A Birthday Wish
by CaptainOfTheRollyJoger
Summary: When Emma made a wish on her 28th Birthday to not be alone anymore, the second she blew out the candle a whole load of crazy started happening. Suddenly, she's stuck in her apartment with an attractive man who claims to be a fairytale character and her son that she'd given up ten years ago. As far as Birthdays went, this one had to take the title of the weirdest one yet.
1. Chapter 1

Emma Swan was used to being alone; in fact, it was something she was rather good at by now. She was used to coming home at night every night to an empty apartment that always stayed the same as she'd left it, she was used to having nobody around to talk to, no friends and certainly no family and she was used to having nobody but herself to rely on. She'd long accepted her lonely life, realising that she'd been alone for the first 27 years of her life, why should her 28th be any different?

As far as birthdays go, today had been pretty average mostly; in fact, it was all going really great when she realised that today's perp, Ryan, was putty in her hands and there was no chance he was about to escape from her well laid out plan. She'd have her pay check in her hand by midnight for sure.

Like with all the men she'd taken down through the means of 'stuff and cuff' technique (stuff them with food at a fancy dinner and then throw the cuff's on before they'd even had chance for dessert), Ryan had been mesmerised by her tall, toned figure before she'd even had to speak or order anything to eat. Emma tried not to be too irritated by this most of the time, even feeling smug occasionally at the stupidity of these guys to let their guard down for even the few seconds that it takes for them to get distracted by her long legs or hourglass figure squeezed into a tiny dress.

She'd worn one of her favourite dresses for tonight's 'date', seeing as this one asshole had caused both her and his poor wife a fair amount of time and money to track him down after he'd skipped bail, leaving his family bankrupt. Emma had tracked him down, trailed him for what felt like weeks, learnt his habits, found out where he was working, what car he drove and then finally found him online on a dating website and sent him a request to meet. From there, it had really all been too easy. A few photographs and a few flirtatious remarks and he was basically begging her to go on a date with him. Just like they all did. These men really were far too predictable sometimes.

Everything had been going smoothly and according to plan until he pushed their table over at her – spilling red wine down her dress – and fled the scene before Emma had been able to tell him just how crappy his wine selection for the evening had been anyways.

They always ran when she had her super high heels on too, it was just so inconsiderate. Not that she let them slow her down however, catching up with him easily enough at his car as she desperately tried to drive off before realising she'd capped his tires.

The look on his face when he realised he wasn't escaping anywhere was almost enough to forgive him for ruining her dress, but then he had to fuck it all up and bring her own non-existent family into it after she'd given him a talking to about being a shit husband and father.

" _What the hell do you know about family?"_

After basically throwing him into a holding cell at the nearest station and collecting her well-deserved money, she drove back to her apartment, kind of wishing that she'd thought to bring a different pair of shoes to drive in as the six-inch killer black heels were starting to make her wish she'd just worn a pair of normal boots instead. No perp was worth this amount of irritation.

The asshole should count himself lucky that she'd only smashed his head on the steering wheel of his own car and knocked him out. If he'd been awake on the trip over to the station she'd really have given him a piece of her mind.

By the time she got home, her feet were genuinely throbbing and she nearly sobbed aloud in relief when she kicked them off in the hallway, leaning on the wall for support as she regained her balance. She blew the strand of long blonde hair that had fallen in front of her eyes out of her face and debated for the hundredth time that week just chopping it up to above her shoulders to keep it out the way for convenience sake.

Emma flicked the entrance light switch on to give the space enough light for her to see where she was going as she padded barefoot down her hallway into the open plan kitchen/living room space, feeling pretty pleased with herself when she realised how clean and tidy she'd left the place earlier considering how she had left in a hurry as she was already running late for her 'date'. Her apartment was considered fairly small, it would have been a squeeze to fit two people in, so it was probably a good thing that she lived in it alone, finding that there was plenty of space for just one occupant.

She walked straight into the kitchen and put down the white cardboard box she'd collected from the store around the corner on her way home, searching around for some matches and finding them in the exact same place that she'd put them after last year, along with the half-used box of star candles that she only used for her birthday. This would be her third candle used. Her third birthday in this apartment. Her third birthday alone in the apartment, but her twenty-eighth birthday alone without anyone to celebrate with. Trying not to let this get her down even more, she picked out a blue star candle and cautiously poked it through the white frosting of the cupcake that she'd carefully selected as her birthday cake—She'd had a birthday cookie last year and it had been the most awkward thing to try and get the candle to stand up in it long enough for her to light it and make her wish before blowing it out without setting fire to anything.

Taking a match out of the box and striking it on the side to light it, she let the flames lick the wick of the lone candle on the cupcake. She put the match out and then leant down to look at the cake, her head resting on her crossed arms, watching the small flame dance around in the otherwise fairly dark kitchen.

"Another banner year…" she muttered to herself with a sigh, allowing her eyes to close so she could make her wish. The same wish she pitifully made every year. It was yet to come true, but who was she to deny tradition now?

 _I wish to not be alone anymore…_

She took one big breath and then blew the candle out without re-opening her eyes.

All of a sudden, there was a sharp object poking into the exposed skin on her neck, a body pushed right up against her back and a hand covering her mouth.

"I wouldn't move if I were you, lass," advised a calm yet threatening voice.

Emma's eyes flew open in shock, what the fuck was happening? How the hell had someone been able to get into her flat without her knowing about it? The front door had definitely been locked and she lived on the 23rd floor for the love of god, there was no way for somebody to be in here without her having let them in.

Her immediate reaction was to freeze completely in fear, her heart literally pounding inside her chest, but then her common sense started to kick in and she twisted out of the choke hold, grabbing the intruders arm to push the knife away from her throat.

Only it wasn't a knife that was being held against her.

It was a hook.

Noticing that the sharp curved end of the hook was incredibly close to her face she grabbed onto the blunt part of it and hung on for dear life, causing the two of them to stumble into the small living room as apparently, this psycho asshole had not counted on his victim to fight back with quite so much strength. Somehow in the struggle they both ended up falling backwards over the coffee table, smashing it to pieces, Emma landing hard on top of the hooked man. She heard his grunt of pain and immediately struck – ignoring how her own body was screaming in agony. She flipped over so she was pinning him down underneath her, just giving her enough time to reach for her lamp and smash him over the head with it, knocking him out cold before he could push her off and do any serious damage with that freaking hook of his.

"Happy fucking birthday to me…" she groaned, half irritated, half exasperated, giving the man a hard poke to the face to check he was properly unconscious before scrambling to her feet as delicately as she could in her tight mini dress. "Come along, sleeping beauty," she muttered under her breath, grabbing both his arms and beginning to drag him back into the kitchen.

Five minutes later the human swiss-army knife – who she now realised was dressed completely from head to toe in black leather – was handcuffed to one of her kitchen chairs with his legs bound too so he wouldn't be able to lash out or move once he regained consciousness. She had also managed to remove and hide the hook from its holster so if by some chance he managed to escape, he would be less likely to lacerate her to death.

He was attractive as far as potential serial killers went, Emma admitted to herself once he was fully restrained. He was tall with a strong muscular build, a head full of jet black hair, a perfectly chiselled jawline, a small amount of stubble and generally just a dangerous look to him. She still hadn't worked out who the hell this guy was, but she was really kicking herself—this is what she got when she accidentally brought her work home with her, she should probably be more careful and watchful when driving her bright yellow bug back to her own home after an incarceration.

Deciding to quickly get out of her stupid stained dress whilst she had a few minutes to herself, she ran into her room and threw on a pair of jeans, a vest top, her brown boots and her red leather jacket so if she ended up in another wrestling match she'd be less likely to flash him her underwear.

She was about to throw her hair up in a ponytail on her head when she heard movement from back in the kitchen and then heavy boots walking in her direction. Jesus, did this guy not give up?! How the hell had he gotten out of handcuffs so fast too?!

Emma moved to stand up against the back of the door, so when the intruder stepped into her bedroom she threw herself at him and latched onto his back, pinning his arms down to his sides, catching him off guard as he wobbled and stumbled backwards effectively slamming his entire body weight back onto Emma as they collided with the wall. She grunted in pain and was forced to let go of the man so she could pick herself up off the floor, realising pretty fast that she had really hurt her back on impact and moving quickly was something that was going to prove a challenge.

They both scrambled to their feet as swiftly as they could and stood face to face for the first time since he had sprung out at her and they made reluctant eye contact. It was at the exact moment that green met blue that the doorbell rang, scaring them half to death as the had both grown accustomed to the silence within the apartment apart from their own shouts and crashes.

The man in leather reached inside his coat with his hand and pulled a small knife out of one of the inside pockets, turning it towards the direction of the door as if some great monster was about to burst through. At the sight of the knife Emma swore loudly and grabbed her gun off her bedside table just as the doorbell rang again.

All of a sudden, the now hook-less man leapt in front of Emma, almost as if to protect her from some unseen danger, still holding the knife out towards the door.

Thoroughly confused and slightly weirded out, she stepped around the man giving him a wide berth as she moved to go and answer the door, realising that this creep was probably not going to attempt to gut her whilst her back was turned if he'd gone to protect her at the slightest noise from the world outside her apartment.

"What are you doing, lass?!" he asked, clearly alarmed as she strolled determinedly towards the door.

"Answering my front door, so just stay in here and be quiet. You can have another shot at killing me once I've gotten rid of whoever's outside," she snapped back at him in a dry voice, reminded again about how sore her body was as she walked out into the hallway, shut him in her bedroom (probably a decision that would come back to bite her on the ass later) and threw open the front door.

"Erm…can I help you?"

"Are you Emma Swan?"

"Yeah, who are you?"

"My name's Henry. I'm your son."

The next few minutes were a confused blur as the small, talkative child walked straight past Emma into the apartment without being invited inside and immediately started wandering around, nosily picking stuff up to examine it closer before completely making himself at home and sitting at one of the tall chairs up against the breakfast bar.

"Kid, where are your parents?!" Emma managed to ask, momentarily getting over her initial shock of having a child walk into her life claiming to be her son.

Henry turned to look at her, staring back at her with eyes that were far too familiar for her liking, despite not seeing them for over a decade. "Ten years ago, did you give up a baby for adoption? That was me."

Emma physically felt her heart aggressively thumping in her chest, there was no denying that this was the baby she'd had in prison as a teenager. Even if he didn't look so much like his father, she just _knew_ that it was her child stood in front of her; she could _feel_ it. Regardless to this though, she still needed a minute to wrap her head around how he was even here in the first place.

There should have been no way for this kid to have been able to track her down—she'd chosen to go for a closed adoption when she'd given him up – and even more impossible for him to have found her all by himself.

"Give me a minute", she blurted out, needing to have a moment alone to herself to gain some composure.

She half ran to the bathroom and firmly closed and locked the door behind her, trying her best to get a grip and not have too much of a panic attack.

 _"Hey, do you have any juice?"_

She knew what it was like to grow up not understanding why her parents had abandoned her, she knew the pain that went along with that. Did her kid now have the same complex and that's why he sought her out?

 _"Never mind, found some!"_

God, she'd given him up so she didn't have to let down her kid by being a terrible mother, but in the process, she had become an even worse mother…this was so screwed up.

Emma put both her hands on the sink basin and looked into the mirror in front of her, seeing her own scared eyes and pale face staring back at her… a pale face covered in cuts and scratches… _Shit_ , she'd only gone and forgotten about the leather clad weirdo she'd left in her bedroom!

Immediately she threw open the bathroom door and marched across the hall to her bedroom. She took a deep breath before opening the door and cursed to herself when she realised that – just as she'd expected – the room was empty.

 _"Oh hi, are you Emma's boyfriend?"_

The kid had been in her presence for all of ten minutes and she had already been reminded why it was that she was incapable of motherhood. She was going to get him fucking killed and his parents would never know what had happened to him.

She ran from the room in sheer panic, skidding back into the main part of the apartment and she was immediately frozen in shock at the sight in front of her when she rounded the corner.

Both of her 'guests' were sat at the breakfast bar drinking her damn orange juice.

She watched in shock as the kid poured juice into a ' _I don't do mornings_ ' cup and slid it over to the psychotic hook-wielding maniac who had attacked her not an hour before. He picked up the cup and held it out to the boy who clinked his own against it in a toast.

"What the hell is happening in here?" she somehow managed to question in complete bewilderment, two sets of eyes shot back into her direction and her kid darn smiled at her with a big toothy grin whilst the other man just sat and watched silently.

"Hey Emma, do you want some juice? You know, before we get going."

"Get going where?" she immediately replied, not able to hide her suspicions in her voice as it came out challenging and untrusting.

"I want you to come home with me," he answered, continuing to grin, taking a large gulp out of his cup which had the caption _'I'm not always a bitch—just kidding, go fuck yourself'_ on it…yep, she was definitely not winning the award for parent of the year.

"Okay kid, I'm calling the cops."

"Then I'll tell them you kidnapped me."  
"And… they'll believe you because I'm your birth mother." Great. Just what she needed.

"Yep," he smirked… _smug little_ …

"You're not gonna do that," she replied immediately, half challenging, half desperate that he was bullshitting her. She didn't need to end up in prison again, for the love of god.

"Try me," he replied, doing his best to keep a straight face.

"You're pretty good, but here's the thing, there's not a lot I'm great at in life, but I have one skill, let's call it a superpower. I can tell when anyone is lying, and you kid, are," she picked up the phone and started dialling the number but then his plea stopped her in her tracks.

"Wait, please don't call the cops. Please, come home with me."

Suddenly Emma wasn't sure what the right thing to do was anymore. Surely, he was better off being taken by the cops now back to his family so that she could finally figure out what to do with the other guest she seemed to have been landed with. But then she also had to assess whether there would be trouble for her anyways –regardless of the fact the kid had come looking for her, it would still look suspicious. Not only that, but the crazy person sat at her breakfast bar next to him could be incredibly dangerous and she didn't want to trigger him in any way to make things worse. Why did bad things always happen to her?

Speaking of which, the man was sat silently, watching the other two converse as if he was trying to figure out was happening, just as much as Emma was. Good. At least she wasn't the only one confused out of her mind.

"Where's home?" she finally decided to ask in defeat, taking him back was probably going to be the safest option. She could drop stab-happy off at the station on her way too.

"Storybrooke, Maine."

"Storybrooke?" Emma and the leathered man both asked in unison, one out of disbelief, the other in something that almost sounded like excitement.

"Yeah…" Henry replied slowly, eyeing them both up as if he didn't quite know what to make of them. "Storybrooke; it's where I live."

Suddenly the man leapt up from his seat, sending the stool clattering to the floor behind him he moved so abruptly. "Lass, I'm going to need my appendage back, if you will? I have an arrangement that cannot wait another second now I am finally close to achieving my revenge."

"Hang on, what now? Revenge? On who? And you must think I'm crazy if I'm just going to hand you back the weapon you used to almost turn me into a pin cushion," Emma replied disbelievingly, who on earth did this guy think he was?

His eyes darkened even more and he took several threatening steps towards her. "You don't want to make an enemy of me, woman, I assure you that. Now give it to me!"

"Are you insane? No!" she fired back, wishing she'd just called the cops on him whilst he was harmless enough sat drinking her damn juice.

"Fine, then you leave me no choice," he growled before reaching inside his coat to grab his knife and then lunged for Henry, dragging him ruthlessly off his stool and holding the knife to his throat.

"Stop!" she yelled in panic, watching as the kid she'd known for barely half an hour was close to being murdered after spending clearly too much time in her presence. Henry looked at her, clearly scared and confused, but also with something else that she couldn't quite place, it looked an awful lot like excitement though, which was enough to make her believe this boy was most definitely hers and Neal's, unfortunately.

"Give. Me. My. Hook," he snarled refusing to take his eyes away from hers for even a second.

"Look, please let him go, okay? Then we can talk? He doesn't need to get hurt," she tried to reason, thinking of how on earth she was going to explain this to his real parents when she got him home.

"I don't know whether you think I'm bluffing or just stupid, love, but I will not hesitate another second to slit his throat open unless you give me back what you've stolen from me. Nobody steals from a pirate!"

"You're a pirate who has a hook?" Henry asked suddenly, not able to hide the excitement in his voice.

"Not the time, kid!" Emma reprimanded in exasperation—yep, _definitely_ Neal's kid.

"Lass, my hook? Tick tock, I have a crocodile to skin."

 _"_ A _crocodile?!"_

"You mean Rumpelstiltskin?"

"What the hell are you talking about, kid?"

"Boy, how do _you_ know of the Dark One?"

"It's all in my book! It's all real! The curse is true! How are you here and not in Storybrooke with everyone else?"

"What is happening? What book?!"  
"I did not get swept up in the Queen's curse, I escaped it as it swept over the kingdom."

"Escaped? How? Did you come from _there_?!"

"The Enchanted Forest? Aye, that I did. Or rather what's left of it."

"STOP IT!" Emma yelled, hurting her throat in the process. She had absolutely _no clue_ what was happening, but somehow in all the chaos the knife had been put away again and the intruder seemed to be having an incredibly important conversation with the ten-year-old he'd just threatened to murder.

"Sorry, love, but can't you see you are interrupting a very important conversation?" the man in the stupid pirate costume snapped at her.

"Me? _Interrupting_? Look, this is my apartment and I want you out of it in the next thirty seconds! I don't care who you are, but you're damn lucky I haven't called the cops on you already!"

The man looked down Henry in confusion and he just nodded in understanding and explained in a hushed tone: "Like royal guards."

Freaking _Jack Sparrow_ nodded in understanding before looking confused again. "Does that mean this wench is of royal decent? This doesn't look like any castle I've seen in my whole – and frankly – lengthy existence."

"I guess she is, yeah," Henry smiled as if the realisation had only just occurred to him. "She's a Princess, but more importantly, she's the Saviour."

" _The_ Saviour? Snow White's daughter?! You mean to say it's been that long since the curse?!"

Emma just sighed, covered her face with her hands and took a few calming breaths before attempting to speak again. "You know, I literally have no idea what you're both talking about. Look, Captain Crazy-Pants, I'll get your hook but then I want you out of my place."

"Actually, Your Highness, it's Captain _Hook_ , although I do appreciate that you got the 'Captain' part right on your first go," he smirked at her and raised his eyebrow in a challenging manner, switching on his charms, going from psychotic to flirtatious in literally less than ten seconds.

"Captain Hook?" she laughed, unable to stop herself. "Of course it is, my bad! But seriously, you're a little old for dressing up and fairy-tales, aren't you?"

"No, Emma, he really is Captain Hook!" the boy announced in excitement. "But look, we really need to be going so my Mom doesn't really try and send out a search party after me."

"Oh yeah, to _Storybrooke_? Let me guess, is that where the Tooth Fairy and Pinocchio live too? Is the Easter Bunny your next-door neighbour?"

"Actually, I don't think the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny are real and I don't think Pinocchio is in town, but Jiminy Cricket and Geppetto are around, so maybe we just haven't found him yet?" the kid replied with a shrug, moving to grab his backpack from off the floor.

"Perhaps he caught some rare case of woodworm?" the man chuckled and winked at Emma and in turn she glared at him flatly, still not sure what she was dealing with. "Aw come on, love, lighten up! It was only a joke!"

"I'm not your 'love', buddy," she snapped back at him before storming into the kitchen to fetch the ridiculous hook she'd hidden earlier. She stormed over to the microwave and aggressively threw the door open and grabbed the damned hook thing before slamming it shut again. She thrust it aggressively in front of the pirate wannabe with so much attitude he couldn't help but smirk as he took it off her.

"Much appreciated, _love_." He added extra emphasis on the endearment, knowing it irritated her and even threw in a wink for good measure, finally clicking the hook back into the holster. "Much better! I would hate to be without this when I know you have a special attachment to it too, milady," he announced flirtatiously, even being dramatic enough to drop into a low bow.

"Would you just cut the crap, asshole? Why are you even here anyways?" Emma snapped, confused all over again as to how he even got into the apartment.

"Not sure, lass. One minute I'm in a tavern with my crew, surrounded by rum and beautiful wenches all throwing themselves at me having a wonderful time and the next, I'm in this awful castle of yours with you throwing yourself at me in a contrastingly sexual way," he smirked, lowering his voice to whisper in her ear. "I do love a good wrestle and a challenge, and you, Princess, give as good as it gets."

"You enjoy being knocked unconscious?" she replied, raising an eyebrow challengingly, refusing to back away from him, making a conscious effort to overlook the whole tavern shite he'd clearly made up. He was so close she could have sworn that she could literally smell the sea on him which was weird considering he was most definitely not a pirate, no matter how deluded he was.

"You bested me, sweetheart. I can count the amount of people who have done that on one hand," he grinned in way that made him seem even more dangerous if that was remotely possible.

However, regardless of how dangerous he could possibly be, Emma couldn't help but snort and shake her head in disbelief at his comment. "Is that supposed to be funny?"

He looked confused for half a second before realising what she meant and letting out loud laugh, his eyes taking on a new glint to them. "Oh, lass, I knew there was more to you than that angry façade you let off!"

"Oh yeah? I wouldn't be so sure. Who the hell even are you? And don't give me the whole 'Captain Hook' crap, how old do I look? Three?"

"But Emma—" Henry insisted.

"No, mate, it's fine," he cut in, stopping the boy from trying to reinforce his identity to a non-believer. "My name's Killian, lass. Killian Jones."

"Well, 'Killian Jones' will you kindly leave my apartment now you have your stupid hook back?" she sighed, thankful not to have had more bullshit fed to her when she was up to her quota of it for the rest of the month.

"No, he's coming to Storybrooke with us!" announced Henry determinedly.

"Oh no, sorry kid, but he is not coming anywhere. He's just leaving, right Mr Jones?" she challenged him, giving him a stone-cold look that dared him to go against what she'd said.

"You know, lass, I do quite fancy going to visit this 'Storybrooke' place, I don't suppose you'd turn down the help of a first mate for the venture?" he replied with a grin, seeing the boy not so subtly do a celebratory dance behind Emma's back at hearing this.

"Awesome! We'll meet you downstairs, Emma! Come on, Killian!"

And before she'd had chance to argue back, both man and child had left the apartment, the door closing loudly behind them.

Emma stood in the kitchen utterly gobsmacked for about half a minute, not even knowing where to begin with all that had just happened. She eventually let out a loud string of colourful curses as she hurriedly looked for her car keys and phone. She was half way out of the door before she decided to go back and fetch her cupcake from off the table. It was down to be one of the weirdest birthdays of all time, but one thing was for sure—nothing was going to stop her getting to eat her own birthday cake… apart from the fact that it was missing. Great.

It wasn't until she got out of the elevator and found both of her new companions sat in the foyer licking frosting from their fingers that she realised she'd been a victim of a case of heinous theft, and grumpily marched past them and out the main door with added vigour.

Emma Swan was used to being alone; in fact, it was something she was rather good at by now. But now she was forced into a situation where she wasn't sure when the next moment of alone-time would be, as they all piled into her tiny yellow bug. Although, externally she came across as a woman on a mission to rid herself of company to return things to normal, on the inside, her heart was starting to fill with hope again that hadn't been there for god knows how many years.

Her son had come to find her and – although she _still_ didn't quite understand how – a weirdly attractive man had simultaneously thrust himself both into her life AND through her coffee table. One thing was for sure…she certainly wasn't alone anymore.

But she was still mad they'd eaten her damn birthday cake.


	2. Chapter 2

It was around nine by the time they made their way out of the city, it would be ridiculous o'clock in the morning before they even made it to this Storybrooke place and then even later before Emma was able to return home. It was a good job Ryan was her last case that she had outstanding at that moment in time; she was going to need a few days to recover from that evenings happenings.

What a way to spend the night of her birthday. Well, the joke was on her though, because she got her birthday wish at least, so she couldn't complain too badly, even if it wasn't quite what she had in mind initially.

"I'm hungry, do you wanna stop somewhere?" Henry asked excitedly, not even half an hour into the journey.

"A feast would be wondrous right now, lass, I must admit," piped up a chirpy voice from the backseat, his head poking forwards between the two of them in the front.

Emma raised an eyebrow at her kid in disbelief and sighed, trying her best to ignore the unhelpful comments made by the unwanted passenger she somehow seemed to have gotten stuck with. "This is not a road trip, we're not stopping for snacks." That, and they'd already both eaten half of _her_ birthday cupcake each before setting off.

"Why not?" Henry asked, looking a bit put out.  
"Quit complaining kid, I could have put your butt on a bus; I still could," she replied, as soon as the words were out of her mouth she was kicking herself…why on earth didn't she think of the bus option earlier? It was far too late for that now anyways.

"You know I have a name, it's Henry."

It was this comment that softened her icy exterior a little, she didn't want to upset him, clearly, he'd put a lot of effort in to get to meet her for some reason, the least she could do was try and talk to him and take him home with the hope that he achieved whatever he came for.

Unsure at how to approach talking to the ten-year-old boy she knew nothing about, she was initially stumped before she saw he had opened his backpack up and retrieved a large decretive old-fashioned book from out of it and was now almost protectively clutching on to it. "What's that?"

"I'm not sure you're ready," he replied cryptically, almost instantly, as if he'd been waiting for her to ask about it.

"Is that the book you spoke of earlier, lad?" asked the ever-so helpful pirate man.

"Ready for some fairy-tales?" Emma continued, yet again doing her best to ignore this Jones man for as long as she could.

"They're not fairy-tales, they're true. Every story in this book actually happened," the kid was persistent at the very least.

"Of course they did," she said dryly, immediately dismissing his words for nothing more than a childish fantasy.

"Wait…every tale is in there?" Jones asked in a quiet voice that genuinely sounded worried. He leant back into his seat again and was quiet then for the rest of the journey, thank god.

"Use your superpower, see if I'm lying," Henry instructed, looking her straight in the face determinedly.

There was a moment where Emma genuinely concentrated and looked at her son, looking for all the telling signs of a liar…but she saw nothing apart from honesty, nothing but pure delusion.

"Just because you believe something it doesn't make it true."

"That's exactly what makes it true!" he insisted adamantly. "You should know more than anyone."

"Why's that?" What on earth did he mean by that? Didn't he realise that she was fresh out of belief in such a thing as a happily ever after? The damn things didn't exist.  
"Because _you're_ in this book."

"Oh kid, you've got problems." she sighed, not even sure how she was supposed to react to that statement.

"Yep, and you're gonna fix them."

The rest of the journey was pretty quiet, as the backseat pirate man was seemingly lost in thought and the length and stressful nature of the day seemed to have taken its toll on Henry as he was fast asleep, his head lolled to the side as if he was looking out of the window but his quiet snores were giving away the true nature of his position.

It was very late by the time they all drove through the boarders of Storybrooke, the journey having taken just around four hours. As they passed through the town line, Henry finally woke up, rubbing his eyes tiredly, clearly incredibly ready for his own bed.

"Okay kid, how about an address?" Emma asked after seeing that his was awake.

Henry yawned and closed his eyes again before muttering, "44 not telling you street."

Emma slammed on the breaks of the bug right in the middle of the road, knowing it was incredibly doubtful that anybody else would be around or on the road at this time of night. She climbed out of the car and slammed the door behind her and Henry copied, coming to stand next to her. "Look, it's been a long night and it's almost…8:15?" she finished, looking up at the clock tower in the middle of main street in confusion. It was definitely much later than that for sure.

"That clock hasn't moved my whole life. Time's frozen here," Henry said with a sigh, almost as if he was just as frustrated as she was.

"Excuse me?" Emma replied, wondering what the hell he was getting at now.

"The Evil Queen did it with her curse, she sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here," he stated without so much as a pause to think about what he was going to use as an explanation.

"Not everyone!" came the shout from inside the car, which both Emma and Henry chose to ignore yet again.

"Hang on, an Evil Queen sent a bunch of fairy-tale characters here?" Emma asked, just trying to make sure she'd understood the load of nonsense Henry was trying to feed her.

"Yeah, and now they're trapped," he insisted, his voice getting slightly hysterical when he realised that getting her to believe what he was saying was going to be almost impossible.

"Frozen in time, stuck in Storybrooke, Maine? That's what you're going with?"

"It's true!"

"Then why doesn't everybody just leave?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow challengingly, he couldn't possibly have an answer for every conceivable question to do with his storybook theory.

"They can't, if they try bad things happen."

Emma was about to ask what kind of bad things would happen when she heard the man in leather desperately trying to climb out of the car, making a lot of noise in the process, clearly fed up with being ignored for so long. He was still trying to climb through between the seats into the front when there was a shout from across the street.

"Henry? What are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine, Archie," Henry insisted as the ginger man with the Dalmatian came almost running across the road to check on the boy. What he was doing dog walking at such a time of day, Emma didn't know, but with her kid suggesting the town was full of fairy tale character, she would take a town full of night-time dog walkers over that possibility any day.

"Who's this?" the man asked all of a sudden, looking at Emma properly for the first time.

She smiled awkwardly, not quite knowing what to say apart from "just someone who's trying to give him a ride home." There. That was fairly non-explanatory, wasn't it? However, Henry had other plans.

"She's my mom, Archie."

"Oh, I see…"

Clearly this man knew Henry had been adopted and his lack of surprise at seeing him with her in the middle of the night didn't go unnoticed by Emma, but what did however, was the sight of the man in her car hiding rather successfully in the foot well to stay out of sight.

Emma sighed awkwardly, folding her arms almost protectively. "Do you know where he lives?" she asked because clearly, she wasn't about to get a straight answer from the kid at any point soon.

"Yeah, sure…just, uh, right up on Mifflin Street. The Mayor's house is the biggest one on the block."

Henry tried to avoid eye contact at all costs as Emma looked down at him accusingly for leaving out such important information.

"You're _the Mayor's_ kid?"

"Uh, maybe…" he muttered quietly, still holding is head low.

"Where were you today, Henry?" Archie asked, clearly trying to change the subject. "You missed our session."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, I went on a field trip," he said, looking up at the man, trying to seem less guilty even though he was obviously not telling the truth.

Archie looked up at Emma before turning back to the boy and kneeling down so he was a similar height. "Henry…what did I tell you about lying? Giving in to one's dark side never accomplishes anything."

"Whoa oookay, "Emma started, trying to steer the conversation to somewhere less weird than from where this Archie guy had just taken it. "Well, I really should be getting him home."

"Yeah, sure," Archie said with a smile, standing again. "Well, listen…have a good night, and, uh, you be good Henry!" he finished, beaming at them both before carrying on walking down the road with his dog at his feet.

Emma turned back to Henry with her arms still crossed, giving him a look that screamed that she didn't believe a word of all the stuff he'd been trying to tell her before, especially now. "So that's your shrink?"

"I'm not crazy!" Henry replied, clearly exasperated.

"I didn't say that," Emma shot back. "He just…doesn't seem cursed to me. Maybe he's just trying to help you?"

"He's the one who needs help, because he doesn't know."

"That he's a fairy-tale character?"

"None of them do, they don't remember who they are."

"Convenient," Emma laughed quietly under her breath, still not quite sure what to say or do. "Alright, I'll play. Who's he supposed to be?"

"Jiminy Cricket."

"Right, the lying thing. I thought your nose grew a little bit."

"I'm not Pinocchio!"

"Of course you're not, because _that_ would be ridiculous…"

It was at that moment that Killian finally managed to get his way out of the car and he fell out of it face first onto the concrete right at Emma's feet as she threw the door open to climb back inside.

"Hello, love," he said with a wink, managing to try and flirt with her even though he was now covered in mud all over his face.

"Sorry, Guyliner, back in the car," Emma smirked dryly, rolling her eyes. "I have a Mayor's child to return back home."

"Actually lass…" he started, trying to climb back to his feet. "I think I'm going to venture off on my own now. I'm much obliged for the safe passage you provided in your strange yellow vessel."

"No, don't go!" Henry shouted from inside the car, leaning over the gearstick to try and convince the man not to leave.

"Sorry lad, I still have a life's quest to carry out, my centuries long revenge to complete…" he replied with a flourish of his hook and within a second the dark look was back in his eyes, the carefree man from seconds ago gone in an instant.

"Okay, no problem. Hope everything works out well for you," Emma said quickly, stepping round him, climbing in the car and shutting the door before he could change his mind. She was rather glad to be free of the weird guy, even if he had been mildly entertaining for a couple of moments since she'd been unfortunate enough to meet him and his pointy hand replacement.

"No, Emma please! Don't take me back there! Don't leave!" Henry pleaded, deciding that the best course of action would be to try and get out the car and refuse to move.

"I have to. I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you," Emma sighed tiredly, calling to him through the open door on his side of the car, trying to convince him to be reasonable. It had been a long day, that last thing she needed was to have to have a fight in the middle of the street with the Mayor's kid.

"I don't have parents—just a mom, and she's evil! Can't you stay, for just a week? I can prove to you that I'm not crazy," he insisted, turning to yell after the figure who was quickly departing towards the darkness of a side street. "Please Killian, I need your help!"

The man had not gotten far by this point, only to the nearest street corner when he heard the boy yell after him and stopped, only if just to listen.

"Evil? That's a bit extreme, isn't it?" Emma replied, actually feeling sorry for his mother, she clearly had her hands full being a single parent and Mayor at the same time.

"She is. She doesn't love me. She only pretends to."

Emma took one look at Henry and sighed, getting out the car and leaned down next to him on the street, examining his expression. "Kid…I'm sure that's not true."

"Sorry to interrupt, lass, but this is actually quite important," said a voice she'd unfortunately heard too much of tonight.

Oh great, pirate man was back again.

"Look lad…did you just say your mother is Evil? Evil as in…" he looked down at Henry with careful eyes, and in case she wasn't mistaken, Emma was sure she could spot a bit of concern poorly hidden within his expression too.

"Yes, evil as in _the_ Evil Queen!" Henry replied, looking at the man with big eyes.

"Bloody hell…"

"Hang on, as in the Evil Queen that supposedly sent all the fairy-tale characters here to Storybrooke?" Emma asked, trying to make sure she was following what on earth he was saying. Obviously, none of it made any sense, but the fact that this weird leather-clad man seemed to know exactly what Henry was saying and was not only following him, but appeared to actually _believe_ it all too was making her wary and sceptical.

"Aye, the very same. The lad is right though lass, that woman is a monster," Killian insisted, looking at Emma, his blue eyes piercing hers and for half a second she wanted to believe what they were saying.

All this talk of curses and fairy tale characters was far more appealing than going back to her lonely life back in the city. However, there was no way for any of it to logistically be true.

"You can't actually expect me to believe any of this?" she asked, not sure which one of them she was directing her words at. "There is absolutely no proof of what you're claiming."

"What more proof do you need than a real-life pirate standing less than a meter away from you?" Henry exclaimed, his voice getting quite high pitched as he tried to insist with her excitedly.

"Henry, this man is not a pirate, no matter what he seems to think," she replied having to make a conscious effort so as not to look at the man in question.

"I think you'll find I am, love," Killian said calmly, causing Henry to beam back up at him, excited that he was getting some of the help he needed.

"Oh really? _Prove it_." Emma was quickly getting fed up with this unfairly attractive man with his leather and his accent, what was he trying to play at? Why was he going along with the imagination of a ten-year-old boy he'd supposedly never met before that evening.

"What more would Captain Hook need to prove to you that he is in fact himself when you yourself have felt the cold metal of his namesake across your skin this very night?" he announced suggestively, bringing his hook up to her eye line so she could see it and then he used it to gently sweep a few of her blonde curls back over her shoulder with a seductive grin.

"Don't try to make you attacking me in my own home into something sexual," she said dryly, swatting his arm away from her, getting the hook out of her face.

"What can I say, love. I am a pirate," he winked much to her displeasure.

"I bet that thing isn't even real, just an elaborate costume piece," she replied, gesturing to his hook.

Now _that_ was enough to make his face go cold and drop the teasing remarks.

"I wish you were right, lass, but unfortunately I have been without my left hand for a few hundred years now," he replied, the dark look returning to his eyes.

"Look!" came an excited shout from inside the car. 'Here, Emma! Isn't this enough proof?" It appeared that Henry had climbed back inside whilst the two of them were bickering to go and fetch his storybook. He leapt out the car holding out the book open on a certain double page spread for Emma to look at.

What she saw was enough to make her heart splutter and her eyes to open wide in disbelief.

A mirror image of the man next to her stared up at her from the page in the book from the illustration, leather and all. He looked identical, even down to his eyeliner, scruff and the hook in place of his left hand.

"Would you have believed that I was just as devilishly handsome in real life too, love? If I wasn't stood right in front of you, that is," he piped up again, seemingly getting over his momentary sulk when she'd accused his hook of being a fake.

"So what? An illustration looks a little like you so I'm supposed to believe that it actually _is_ you? Not a chance," Emma snapped at him mainly out of confusion and in defence. There was no way that this could be real. "Now, everybody get in the damn car and let's go."

Without turning to look and see what the other two were doing she turned and climbed back into the driver's seat of the bug, putting her seatbelt on and turning on the ignition. A few moments later Henry scrambled back in the car and shut the door. She felt almost a bit disappointed that he was alone and the man seemed to have ventured off by himself again.

"Right, let's get you back to your mom."

* * *

Half an hour later Emma found herself walking back out of the Mayors house down the path to her car feeling a little shook up…Henry was right, the woman was a right hard-ass and Emma could tell that Regina Mills had more secrets than Emma herself had regrets, and that was saying something.

She was about to grab the car door handle to open it when a hook shot out and grabbed her wrist before she could make contact causing her to almost jump out of her skin in surprise.

"What are you doing here?!" she hissed at Killian, trying to remove her arm from his hook.

"I'm making sure the Evil Queen hasn't harmed you or the boy. You don't know half of the terrible things a villain such as that woman is capable of," he replied in a low voice, retracting his hook and stepping closer to her so they were almost eye to eye, like he was trying to examine her. "You were wise to refuse the apple cider, but drinking anything she gave you was a foolish thing to do."

"For the love of god, stop it! Henry isn't here anymore, you don't have to keep pretending!" she snapped, trying her best to ignore all of the crap that he was spouting.

"That's what you think I've been doing?" he asked, pulling back to look at her, almost disappointed.

"Well, isn't it?!" Emma barked back, moving so close to him now that she could feel his breath on her face.

Neither of them said anything immediately, just standing in the street in silence looking at each other. Emma hadn't thought of the circumstances before getting this close to the attractive man in front of her that literally oozed sex appeal. It had been far too long since she'd allowed herself to get near anybody like this, but she could almost feel her body humming excitedly when their eyes met. His were so blue that she could almost believe that this man was in fact out of a fairy tale…he couldn't be real.

"No love, it's not," he Killian finally replied quietly. "Look, you need to come with me, I need to monitor you overnight to make sure she didn't slip you any kind of poison."

"She's the Mayor, not a drug dealer," Emma muttered under her breath. "I can't stay, I need to get back to Boston."

"Oh? Do you have a gentleman waiting for you?"

Emma couldn't help but let out a very unladylike snort and roll her eyes. "Yeah, no…I don't do that anymore thanks."

"I see, then why, pray tell, won't you stay just one night? I promise I can be quite good company," he smirked at her, raising one eyebrow flirtatiously before winking.

"No thanks buddy, the last thing I need is to spend the night with a man who may have wandering hands…well, a wandering hand and hook." She corrected herself and Killian let out a laugh at her discomfort.

She did her best to step round him and get into the car but he went to stop her again, going so far as to put his good arm around her waist to pull her back to him. Not expecting the attack, she stumbled forwards, her hands splaying out over his chest that was barely covered by this shirt and waistcoat.

"Come on lass…your first night with a dashing rapscallion of a pirate Captain? Well, you never forget your first," he winked at her again, leaning to whisper the last part in her ear, making her skin almost tingle from the feeling.

She tried her best to look unbothered by his close proximity and pushed him away from her with another eye roll.

"You know, most men would find your silence off-putting, but I love a challenge," he grinned, not seeming to mind her pushing him away almost aggressively to regain her personal space.

"If I agree to stay will you shut up?" she finally caved with a sigh, realising there wasn't much hope of returning to her own comfy bed tonight.

His returning smile almost seemed genuine, almost relieved. "Aye lass, I shall try my best if that is what the lady desires!"

"Great," she replied dryly. "Get in the car, I saw a B&B down the road."

"What's a 'B&B'?" he replied curiously, nevertheless doing as he was told and going found the other side of the car to get in the passenger's side.

Emma didn't even reply to him just sighed, got in the car, started the engine and drove off. Less than five minutes later and they were parked up outside the old and battered Bed and Breakfast and were walking up the overgrown path to the door, which thankfully was still open regardless to the hour.

As they opened the door the sound of two women arguing immediately hit them.

 _"I should have moved to Boston!"_

 _"I'm sorry that my heart attack interfered with your plans to sleep your way down the Eastern Seaboard!"_

"Excuse me?" Emma interrupted quickly, deciding that it would be better to announce themselves rather than stand awkwardly at the door and listen to them fighting.

Immediately the elder of the two women stopped spun around to look at both Emma and Killian in astonishment.

"Do you have any free rooms available?" she asked, unsure of what to make of the woman's reaction to them being there.

"You'd like a room? Really?" the old woman asked again almost as if she was in shock. Even the younger of the two women stopped what she was doing to look at the new arrivals completely aghast. She didn't give Emma or Killian a chance to respond to her question, almost as if she was afraid they would change their minds about staying. "Would you like a forest view or a square view? Normally, there's an upgrade fee for the square, but as rent is due, I'll waive it."

Emma smiled at the woman and was about to respond when her companion decided to make his presence known.

"A square room sounds delightful, doesn't it, love?"

"Now…what's the name?" the lady asked again, getting out a book so as she could write it down.

"Swan. Emma Swan," she replied, trying to smile convincingly at the women and not physically hurt or maim the man stood next to her who had somehow without her noticing put his arm around her waist again.

" _Emma_ ," repeated an unknown voice from the doorway. "What a lovely name."

She suddenly physically felt Killian's hook press hard into her side, almost as if he was having to try his best not to lash out at the greying man behind them.

Confused, she turned to look at the man, muttering out a quick, "Thanks" whilst reaching down to grab hold of Killian's arm to ensure he wouldn't lash out. She wasn't completely sure what he was up to or what was wrong, but she had seen a man posed for attack before and this man had definitely struck up some form of aggression in her companion.

The grey man smiled at her, an unnatural looking smile that didn't seem to sit well on his face and then turned to Killian, who was still glaring at the long-haired man as if he wanted nothing but to tear him to shreds there and then. "You are a lucky man; your girlfriend is a beautiful woman."

That only seemed to anger him even more somehow and Emma was forced to grab hold of his other hand and dig her fingernails into it as a warning as she felt him start to physically shake as she was now trapped completely in his arms.

Thankfully, the old woman took that as the right time to hold out a roll of dollars for the man, her face also reflecting that she wasn't very happy to see him either. "It's all here."

"Yes, yes, of course. Yes, dear. Thank you." He moved around Emma and Killian to take the money and then turned to them again just before he made his way back outside. "You enjoy your stay…Emma."

"Doesn't anybody sleep in this town…" Emma muttered under her breath…2am seemed like a strange time to be wandering around collecting money. "Who was that?" she turned and asked the woman behind the counter.

"Mr Gold. He owns this place, so he makes sure to come and go whatever time of day he wants," replied the scantily dressed younger woman from behind her at the window as she watched the man leave.

"He owns the Inn?" Emma replied, still trying to figure out why it was that Killian still hadn't let go of her and why he seemed to think it was a good idea in the first place to pretend to be a couple of all things.

"No," the older woman said coldly. "The town."

Emma could have sworn she heard Killian literally growl and felt his arms tighten as he stepped even closer to her so that her back was pressed entirely up against his body.

"So…" said the woman, trying to put on a more cheerful voice. "How long will you both be with us?"

"A week. Just a week," she replied without even thinking, not sure why she didn't just say one evening and let it be done with. But something was not right here and she was suddenly adamant not to leave until she was sure of what was going on. This was the place her son was living, she'd given him up for adoption so he could have his best chance at a happy life and she sure as hell wasn't leaving town now until she was sure he was okay. Not to mention the pirate wannabe clinging to her like she was a lifeline…something was up there and for some unknown reason she wanted to help. She had nowhere better to be anyways.

"Great," smiled the woman before handing over a big decorative key. "Welcome to Storybrooke."

Unbeknownst to Emma, that was the moment that the Storybrooke clock started moving for the first time in 28 years.

* * *

"The Crocodile bloody _owns_ the whole town?!"

"What do you mean Crocodile? That woman said his name was Mr Gold."

"That's his cursed name! The pompous bastard!"

"Not more talk of this damn curse again!"

"Look, Swan, don't keep lying to yourself. You know something isn't right here!" he finally snapped, turning his fury on the woman who was currently sat on the bed trying to remain composed as he paced around the small room angrily.

"Well yeah, obviously, somethings up, but that doesn't mean it's a fairy tale curse!" she tried to protest, but every time she protested the attempts were getting more and more futile.

"Listen to me, Emma, please! This curse is _real_. I know it sounds crazy and it doesn't make any sense, but you need to just trust me if any of us are going to succeed in getting what we want," he announced, moving to stand in front of the bed to give her his speech, waving his hook around erratically as if that was somehow going to manage to convince her.

"Put your hook down or you're going to take your eye out wiggling it like that," she replied calmly, turning back to the storybook that she'd been trying to read that Henry had conveniently left in her car for her to find.

"Why won't you listen, you infuriating woman!" he cried, throwing both hand and hook up in the air this time.

"I'm trying to concentrate," she told him in the same chilled out voice, as if she was doing her best to ignore him without completely tuning him out.

"No, you're afraid," he immediately shot back, causing Emma to lift her head and look at him again. "Afraid to talk, to reveal yourself, to trust me. Believe me, things will be a lot smoother if you do."

"Well, you must be used to people not trusting you, _Captain_ ," she hissed sarcastically, her walls shooting even higher up around to protect herself.

"Ah yes, the whole _pirate_ thing, which you somehow still refuse to believe…" he replied letting the smallest of smirks appear before moving to sit next to her on the bed, completely invading her personal space again, but Emma refused to back down or move. "Well, I don't need you to share, you're something of an open book."

"Am I?" Emma fired back defensively, slamming the book she had on her lap shut in retaliation, causing him to smirk properly this time.

"Quite," he insisted, leaning forwards to her again. "Let's see, the only reason you agreed to stay tonight is so that you can have the chance to spend more time with your boy tomorrow, even though you claim to just want to go home and forget all of this ever happened," he observed, watching her closely to judge for a reaction.

"That's not perception, that's simply just listening to conversation, congratulations," she sassed, trying to find her place in the book again.

"Ah, but you feel guilty for giving your boy up all those years ago and you're trying to make amends by making sure he's safe and happy now. You don't want to abandon him again now the way you were abandoned," he answered, taking the book out of her hands that were suddenly frozen in shock and immediately finding and flipping to the page she'd been searching for with his hook and then handing it back. "Like I said, love, you're an open book."

"How would you know that?" she challenged, looking at him directly in the eyes with a different expression on her face other than the angry and guarded one he'd seen all night since meeting her. Right then, she looked tired and possibly even a little bit frightened.

"I spent many years in Neverland, among all the lost boys. They all share the same look in their eyes. The look you get when you've been left alone," he explained, preparing for her to go on again about how nothing he said was true.

"Yeah, well my world ain't Neverland," she replied quietly after a second. That was the first time she'd not angrily cast aside his stories of a world different to this one, and this didn't go unnoticed by Killian.

"But an orphan's an orphan," he insisted, trying to see how much further he could push her without her retreating back to her hard-face façade he now realised she was hiding behind. "Love has been all too rare in your life, hasn't it?

She just shot him a look which was more of a warning than anything else, but he could also see the begging in her glance, pleading for him to not dig any further.

"Have you ever even been in love?" he asked and once the words left his mouth he knew he had gone too far.

"No," she snapped, getting up off the bed and away from him, heading into the adjoining bathroom connected to their room. "I have never been in love."

She slammed the door, leaving Killian simply just lay there deep in thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Emma woke up to the sound of persistent knocking, but before she could get out of bed she heard somebody open the door and answer before she even had to move. For half a moment, she relaxed again and snuggled back into her pillow, but then she realised with a jolt where she was as she heard two male voices talking at the door.

From what she could tell, Killian was arguing with an Irishman.

"Hello, I need to speak to Miss Emma Swan, I was told this was her room. Is she here?"

"Aye mate, but she's asleep. She had a long night last night. Can you come back later perhaps?"

"I'm afraid it's rather urgent that I speak with her now."

Emma decided to take that as her cue to 'wake up' and go see what was going on. She was still angry at Killian for pushing her so hard last night with his questions, but clearly now was not the time to chew him out for it when they had company.

Once she had come back out from the bathroom the previous evening, she had found him fast asleep on top of the duvet on his side of the bed. Clearly, he had managed to remove his heavy leather coat before passing out, but that was all. So, she had sighed and pulled off both his boots and removed his hook so he didn't roll over in the middle of the night and accidentally lacerate her whilst she was defenceless.

She wasn't sure why she took time to make sure he was comfortable before going to sleep herself, but she had an inkling that it was because she'd realised that he was just like her, alone in the world with nobody to take care of him. She wasn't the only one with that look in her eyes that he'd spoken about last night.

"Good morning, Sherriff," she had yawned, once reaching the doorway and realising who was stood talking to her 'boyfriend'. "What can I do for you this morning?" She had very briefly met the man before when she'd taken Henry home, but was not expecting to see him again.

"Sorry for waking you, Miss Swan," he apologised, looking slightly embarrassed. "I'm afraid Henry has gone running off again, I don't suppose you've seen him?"

"Not since I dropped him off last night," she replied with a sigh, of course the kid had tried to dodge his Mother again after all he'd said last night, and of course his Mother would accuse her of having something to do with his disappearance again. "Look, I was with my boyfriend all night, I didn't fancy the drive back to Boston in the dark, so we decided to crash here. And clearly, as you can see, I have only just this second woken up, so I've not been on any child-snatching adventures this morning."

She was suddenly very relieved she had a pretend boyfriend to cover her ass in situations like this…clearly, this Regina woman was a piece of work and not somebody to make an enemy of…which she suspected she had accidentally done as soon as Henry had shouted at her that he had found his _"Real Mom"._

"I see," replied the Sheriff looking between both her and the man she was now pressed up against as he wrapped an arm possessively around her, hiding the hooked one behind her body, using her as a shield and dropping an almost possessive kiss on her forhead. "Sorry to bother you, Miss Swan. Thank you for your time."

"It's Emma," she corrected him with a careful smile, holding out her hand for him to shake. The poor guy looked incredibly stressed and that was probably justified. She would not want to have to be the one to have to report back to Madame Mayor that her son was still missing.

"Graham," he introduced, shaking her hand returning her smile before turning back to her partner. "I don't think I caught your name, Pal?"

Killian looked as though he had to physically force a friendly look on his face before replying, eyeing up the way this man was smiling at the blonde woman next to him. He held out his good hand just like Emma had done seconds ago and said, "I do apologise, where are my manners? Name's Killian, Killian Jones."

Graham shook his hand, not seeming to sense the awkward tension that Emma could almost feel radiating around the room. "Well it's a pleasure to officially meet you both, but I should probably get going back on the search." He turned to leave, but something inside Emma compelled her to call after him.

"Hey, uh…did you check his computer?"

* * *

A few hours later found Emma, Graham and the Mayor all in the police cruiser heading towards the school. The tension within the car was so thick you could have cut it with a knife and the animosity was almost rolling off Regina in waves, what the hell was this woman's problem?

Killian had decided to split with Emma for a few hours, he claimed he was going to explore, but Emma knew – even without him explicitly telling her – that he was going to go and confront this Mr Gold/Crocodile man that they'd seen last night. She'd awkwardly wished him good luck, still not on good terms but she was at least trying not to come across too coldly.

She had also tried to delicately suggest that he think about losing the hook to wander around town with as it made him look like a serial killer, and at least try and find some normal clothes whilst he was at it; whether he would listen or not she had no idea, but she'd tried. He just stuck out like a sore thumb in his full leather getup and they had already drawn enough attention to themselves as it was.

Thankfully, after a rather short journey, they arrived at the school and Emma found herself following Regina down the corridors of the school as she almost marched determinedly towards Mary-Margaret Blanchard's classroom.

Graham had offered to wait by the car and Emma found herself regretting not doing the same as Regina chewed up and spat out the sweet school teacher before storming out in the same fashion that she had stormed in, also managing to knock a stack of books to the floor on her way out the door and snapping too Emma: "Have a nice trip back to Boston".

Emma couldn't really understand why Regina had been so aggressive to Mary-Margaret; yeah, she'd given Henry a storybook that filled his head with ideas of real-like fairy tales, but she had not _given_ him her credit card details enabling Henry to pay for someone to find his birth Mother…she'd been a victim of theft by a ten-year-old, and instead of apologising for her son's behaviour, the Mayor had literally thrown an adult temper tantrum when she realised the teacher had no idea where Henry was either.

The more Emma saw of Regina Mills, the more she disliked her and she could almost see where Henry had got the Evil Queen thing from. Obviously, she was no fairy-tale character, but she was undeniably a royal bitch.

Emma immediately started to help Miss Blanchard pick up the books from the floor, feeling partly responsible for inflicting the Mayor's wrath on the woman. "I'm sorry to bother you."

"No, it's…it's okay," Mary-Margaret replied, sneaking a glance up at Emma almost as if she was in shock at seeing her there kneeling on her classroom floor. "I fear this is partially my fault."

"How was the book supposed to help?" Emma found herself asking, the whole speech Mary-Margaret had just given Regina about Henry needing the book because he was lonely still ringing in her ears.

Mary-Margaret smiled as they both climbed to their feet and made their way out of the classroom, "What do you think stories are for? These stories, the classics…there's a reason we all know them. They're a way for us to deal with our world, a world that doesn't always make sense. You see, Henry hasn't had the easiest life."

"Yeah, she's kind of a hard-ass," Emma replied, thinking back to Regina and her attitude problem.

"No, it's more than her," the woman tried to explain. "He's like any adopted child. He wrestles with that most basic question they all inevitably face: 'Why would anyone give me away?'" Suddenly, she seemed to realise what she had said and who she was talking to and a look of horror passed over her face as she stopped walking and turned to Emma. "I am so sorry… I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to judge you."

Emma physically felt her heart drop in her chest as if it were made of rocks and she felt an awful kind of nausea pass through her whole body. That was what she had done though, wasn't it? She had given him away…just like her parents had done to her. It was a vicious cycle and it was only now in the last few days that she had really begun to regret the decision she had made all those years ago.

However, she managed to squeeze the smallest of smiles onto her face and briefly look up at Mary-Margaret and mutter out a quiet, "it's okay", because what else did she really have the right to say in that moment. She could have tried to defend herself, but what good would it have done?

"Look, I gave the book to him because I wanted Henry to have the most important thing anyone can have. Hope. Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing," Mary-Margaret tried to explain and for a second Emma could almost understand the reasoning. How was she supposed to know Henry would take all those fairy-tales so literally anyways?

She wasn't sure if it was just the look in her eyes or the way that she spoke so affectionately about her son, but Emma realised in that moment that Mary-Margaret had been able to help Regina out all along, but had chosen not to. "You know where he is don't you?"

"You might want to check his castle," she admitted with a small smile.

* * *

It took a bit of searching for, but less than an hour later that was where Emma found Henry, just sat by himself on top of a small wooden castle on the beach. She smiled to herself sadly, if there was anything she'd have wished to not pass onto her kid it would have been loneliness, but unfortunately, he seemed just like her in that moment.

"You left this in my car," she said, moving to sit next to Henry, dangling her legs off the side of the castle just like he had done. He took it from her without a word and they just sat there in silence for a few minutes, looking up at Storybrooke.

Emma followed Henry's eye-line and found him watching the boats at the harbour, thinking about the strange 'pirate' she was bunking with for the time being before she glanced up at the clock tower—the tallest building in the town's skyline.

She felt her eyes widen in disbelief.

"Hey, kid…what was it you said about the clock tower again last night?"

"It's not moved in all the years I've lived here, why?" he replied quietly, still looking at the boats.

"Well that's weird, because it's reading the right time right now," she pointed out, checking her watch to make sure.

Henry gasped and his eyes flew up to it in excitement. Sure enough, as soon as he looked at it, the minute hand moved, almost as if to prove a point. "I knew it! I knew things would start to change when I brought you here!"

"Kid, it's just a clock. They probably just got it fixed or something." Emma tried to shrug it all as if it was no big deal, but something inside her was telling her that maybe she had started to believe at some point, even though it made absolutely no sense at all.

"No, it's because you're here! It's your destiny; you're going to bring back the happy endings!" he insisted, lifting up the book as if to reiterate what he meant.

"Can you cut it with the book crap?" she retaliated tiredly, looking at him, trying not to feel herself freaking out.

"You don't have to be hostile. I know you like me, I can tell," Henry replied with a shit-eating grin and Emma couldn't help but to roll her eyes at his optimism and give him a teasing shove.

They then continued to sit in silence, both deep in thought before Emma heard Henry mutter quietly. "You just keep pushing me away because I make you feel guilty."

She looked at him, not quite sure how to react, but there was no denying the fact that for a ten-year-old this kid was very perceptive.

"But it's okay," he carried on, giving her another small smile. "I know why you gave me away. You wanted to give me my best chance."

Emma felt her chest tighten and before she realised she was crying, she felt her own tears dropping onto her clenched hands on her lap. He was right, of course he was, he was a smart kid, but she had to ask. "How do you know that?"

"It's the same reason Snow White gave you away," he explained and suddenly Emma had a rush of gratitude for the book that Mary-Margaret had given him, clearly it had helped him kind of in his own way come to terms with being sent away, which was something she'd never been able to do.

However, her parents had in no way attempted to give _her_ her best chance...

"Listen to me, kid. I am not in any book. I'm a real person. You were right about one thing though…I wanted you to have your best chance, but it's not with me." She could still feel the tears streaming down her face but she didn't really care. Ever since Henry forced his way into her life he had turned it upside down and even Emma was struggling to understand what was real and what wasn't anymore.

But she was not good parenting material. She had never known what it was to be loved, to have a family or to even have a Mother at all…how would she have ever been able to work that one out all alone, fresh out of jail? No matter how nasty his adopted Mother was…Regina was still better for him than she was.

"Come on, let's go," she said sadly, jumping down from the 'castle', waiting for Henry to follow.

"Please don't take me back there, you don't know what it's like with her…my life sucks!" he exclaimed and Emma could see tears starting to appear in his eyes.

"Oh, you wanna know what sucking is? Being left abandoned on the side of the freeway! My parents didn't even bother to drop me off at a hospital. I ended up in the foster system and I had a family until I was three but then they had their own kid so they sent be back." She managed to stop herself before she said anything else, not wanting to cry anymore in front of Henry, not wanting to upset him.

She forced out a trembling smile and bent down to his level. "Look, your Mom is trying her best. I know it's hard and I know sometimes you think she doesn't love you…but at least she wants you."

"Your parents didn't leave you on the side of the freeway, that's just where you came through," he insisted, trying to rub away his tears on the sleeve of his jacket.

"What?" Emma found herself asking, did he have an answer for everything?

"The wardrobe. When you went through the wardrobe you appeared in the street. Your parents were trying to save you from the curse!" he explained as if it all made perfect sense to him and should do to her as well. But it all just seemed too unrealistic and fantastical to be true.

"Sure they were," she laughed shakily, trying to wipe away a few tears of her own. It had been years since she'd cried and it almost felt liberating to let some form of emotion out now. "Come on, Henry."

To Emma's relief, he came with her without a fight and after walking a few steps towards where she'd parked her car she felt him slip his small hand inside hers and squeeze gently whilst they were walking, almost as if he was doing what he could to comfort her. "I spoke with your teacher today, uh, Miss Blanchard? She seems nice," Emma started as they got in the car, trying to strike up a different topic of conversation.

But Henry just grinned and sat down in his seat, holding his book close to his chest as if it would just disappear if he didn't. "She is nice," he agreed after doing his seatbelt up.

Suddenly, curiosity got the better of her and although every part of her was screaming not to bring the curse up again, she couldn't help but ask. "Who is she supposed to be then? In this whole fairy-tale thing? Who is she really?"

"Can't you work it out?" he asked back with a smirk that for half a second she worried he'd picked up off their travelling companion from the night before.

It was that look, however, that told her exactly what she needed to know and she understood what he was getting at immediately. "You think she's Snow White, don't you?"

"I _know_ she's Snow White," Henry corrected, obviously thrilled that she'd guessed it right on her first try though. "She's your Mother. She just doesn't remember."

"Isn't she a little young to be my Mom?" Emma asked, one eyebrow raised in question, this curse didn't make a whole lot of sense and it appeared to be very complicated from what Henry was trying to sell.

"Like I said, time's frozen here. It only just started moving again when you arrived."

"Ah, okay, I see. So, if she's Snow White, and my Mom…where's Prince Charming in all this? Huh? Just please don't tell me it's Sheriff Graham cause I think he was eyeing me up earlier and that would just make everything weird."

Henry just started laughing, his smile lighting up his whole face as his shoulders shook with mirth. "No, he's not your Father. But I know where he is! Can we just take one little detour before you take me home? Please?" he begged at her, looking at her pleadingly with big eyes.

She didn't know what made her do it, maybe it was the fact that she wasn't ready to take Henry back to Regina yet as she wanted to spend even just a little bit more time with him, or maybe it was because he'd got her intrigued with the notion of her parents being fairy-tale characters – but not remembering that that was what they were – but she turned to him and smiled.

"Where to, kid?"

* * *

"This is your Father, Prince Charming," Henry announced as they made their way through the hospital ward and into a separate room in the back and Henry made himself comfortable on the side of the bed and Emma, unsure of what to do, just awkwardly perched by the door.

"Are you sure we're supposed to be in here, kid?" she asked, looking around for any nurses that could come and throw them out.

"Anybody can come visit him at any time because he's all alone. He doesn't have a family and nobody knows who he is. Miss Blanchard comes to visit him sometimes though," he explained, as if that one little fact was enough to make him certain that this man was in fact Prince Charming.

"Henry…" Emma started, not sure how to respond to him. When he said, he'd found her father, she thought it would entail doing some kind of brief stakeout to watch a man from across the road live his daily life, but she was definitely not expecting a coma patient.

"Look, see the scar?" Henry asked, holding out the storybook for Emma to begrudgingly take off him to examine. "He has one too, see?"

"So? Lots of people have scars," Emma replied, handing the book back without even glancing at the man on the bed.

"In the same place?" Henry insisted, reaching out to grab her hand and pull her begrudgingly closer to have a look.

Yet again, Henry seemed to have a good eye and not only did the man's scar match the picture in the book, he looked identical from what she could see – an exact likeness, like she had also seen between Killian and the illustration of Captain Hook.

"Well…maybe you're right," Emma muttered before she could stop herself and Henry grinned, clearly pleased he was possibly starting to get through to her.

"I knew you'd see the resemblance! I just haven't been able to figure out how to wake him…I think it's the curse keeping him asleep cause Dr Whale says there's nothing physically wrong with him," Henry said almost as if he was in deep concentration.

Emma glanced briefly at the clock on the wall of the ward and sighed, she'd been with him for almost an hour now, it was time to get him back to his Mother. "Okay, kid. Let's get you back home."

"Okay, fine. But you'll help me? With the curse?" Henry pleaded with her with his big eyes.

"I'm staying in Granny's until the end of the week, so we have until then," she explained with a smile, seeing his whole face light up with excitement, she couldn't ever remember anybody looking at her like that in her whole life.

She gave one last confused look at John Doe before they left the room.

* * *

Regina opened the front door to the house just as Emma and Henry got out the car. Henry wished her a goodbye with a whispered promise to see her tomorrow before running past Regina into the house without sparing her so much as a glance.

The Mayor went to follow Henry inside before realising that Emma was still stood on the path, waiting to speak to her. She allowed a small smile to appear on her face before begrudgingly speaking. "Thank you."

"No problem," Emma replied just as awkwardly.

"He seemed to have taken quite a shine to you," Regina observed, taking a few steps closer to Emma and even though she appeared to be trying to be friendly, Emma knew better.

However, she laughed quietly to herself, almost as if she couldn't believe it either. He was a great kid. "You know what's kind of crazy? Yesterday was my birthday and I when I blew out the candle on his cupcake I bought myself I actually made a wish. And then Henry showed up," she smiled, trying to gloss over the fact that he wasn't the only person who showed up seconds after that candle was blown out.

Regina, however, did not smile. "I hope there's no misunderstanding here."

"I'm sorry?" Emma replied, a little confused.

"Don't mistake this as an invitation back into his life. Miss Swan you made a decision ten years ago and in the last decade while you've been doing…well, who knows what you've been doing? I've changed every diaper, soothed every fever, endured every tantrum. You may have given birth to him, but he is _my_ son."

"I was not—"

"No, you don't get to speak. You don't get to do anything. You gave up that right when you tossed him away. Do you know what a closed adoption is? It's what you asked for. You have no legal right to Henry, and you're gonna be held to that. So, I suggest you get in your car and you leave this town, because if you don't, I _will_ destroy you if it is the last thing I do. Goodbye Miss Swan."

Emma was more than a little shell shocked at the verbal attack and threats that Regina had just thrown around and it did nothing to help ease her troubled mind that there really was something wrong with this woman. But just before Regina closed the door she managed to call out. "Do you love him?"

"Excuse me?" Regina replied, whipping around angrily, clearly ready for another attack.

"Henry. Do you love him?" Emma forced out, trying not to show weakness in front of her.  
There was a moment of silence between the two women where they just eyed each other up, both looking for cracks in the other.

"Of course, I love him," Regina finally replied before walking back inside and going to slam the door, however, she is immediately stopped in her tracks at the sight of another figure walking up towards the house, heading to where Emma was standing.

"There you are, love, I wondered where you'd been all day."

Emma had never been so damn happy to see anybody before in her whole life and she turned to smile at Killian before she had the wind knocked out of her.

If she though he was attractive in his 'pirate' get up, that was nothing compared to how he looked dressed in regular clothing. He was wearing black jeans, a black shirt and waistcoat and had a regular black leather jacket thrown over the top—he still looked smart, but he looked every part a normal member of society now, and there was no denying that his jeans did wonders for his ass, she noticed as he turned around and bent over to pick up the room key to Granny's that 'accidentally' fell out of his pocket as he spotted who she was talking to, making a big show of twiddling it in his hand as he got closer.

As he approached Emma, he threw the key to her and she caught it easily.

"Thanks, handsome," she smirked, winking back at him. Clearly, they were making a show about their room in the B&B and the fact that they weren't going anywhere just yet, no matter how many threats Regina threw around. Her confidence soared and she immediately felt so much more in control of the situation.

Killian smirked as he walked up behind her and put his arm around her, it took Emma a few seconds to realise that it was the one with the hook and that the cold metal was resting on her stomach in plain view of the Mayor, who seemed to have completely frozen in shock. Killian dropped a slow kiss on her cheek and before moving back slightly to subtly whisper in her ear.

" _Trust me."_

And in that moment, she did.

"Who is this, Swan?" he asked a little louder, looking at Regina was a gleam in his eyes that seemed to have her retreating backwards into her home in fear, eyes focused on his hook.

"This is Regina Mills, the Mayor and Henry's Mom," she replied with a smile that she did her best to keep neutral before she, too, began to smirk like that cat that had caught the canary. "Regina, this is Killian Jones, my boyfriend."

If possible, Regina got even paler, all her bravado from moments ago faded away in seconds. Although Emma didn't fully understand what was happening, even she was able to work out that this was not a first meeting between the two of them.

Killian let go of her and walked up to the porch of the house, extending his good hand out to the shaken woman at the doorway, almost as if it was a challenge he was daring her to take.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Henry from inside the house, watching all that was going on with a broad smile filling across his whole face from his perch on the stairs. She wasn't sure whether he had realised that she had spotted him yet, he was so entranced watching Killian approaching Regina.

Regina seemed to put a calm and collected mask on long enough to quickly reach forwards to take his hand and shake it in a professional way. "Welcome to Storybrooke, Mr Jones."

"Thank you, Milady," he replied, his smirk slowly starting to make itself even more evident on his face. "Emma, love, would you mind meeting me back at Granny's? I just have a few questions to ask the Mayor," he asked, glancing back at her giving her another wink that almost pleaded with her to just do as he'd asked.

"Oh, um…Sure thing," she replied, trying not to let her apprehension and uncertainty be apparent on her face as she turned and left them to it, finally catching Henry's eye as she was about to turn. He nodded at her enthusiastically to leave; clearly, he approved of her decision to trust the man that she'd known less than twenty-four hours—at least that made one of them.

As Emma was just about to reach the hedge, she heard Killian address Regina again in a low voice, this time, however, he did not sound so light-hearted.

"What's wrong, your Majesty? Not happy to see me? Aren't you going to invite me for a drink this time?"

She had not heard him speak like that before, his voice dark and threatening and that, combined with the question he'd just asked Regina made her throat almost close up, blocking her airway as the gravity of the situation began to really settle in. She hid behind the hedge as she disappeared from sight, listening carefully to see if she could pick up anything else from their conversation. She was only able to hear a bit more before they walked inside the house and closed the door and even then, she had to strain her ears to pick up anything from their hushed tones.

" _What are you doing here, Hook?"_

" _That's 'Captain' Hook, thank you, love."_

" _This is a land without magic and I know you didn't come over with my curse, so how the hell are you here?"_

" _The lass you just gave an ear bashing to seems to have a little bit of magic inside her that you weren't able to snuff out completely by ruining her life, as it would seem."_

" _Emma Swan? What are you talking about, pirate?!"_

" _She's not much of a conventional Princess, more a pirate actually…but you can't deny she looks just like her parents."_

That was all she heard before she heard the tell-tale sound of the front door slamming. Then it was silent.

Emma sank down to the concrete in shock, her head hurting and before she realised what was happening she had drawn blood on her hands due to her nails digging into her palms so hard as she shook violently. After a few minutes of deep breathing, she was able to calm herself down enough to get into the bug and drive back to Granny's B&B.

Just as she went to get out the car she realised Henry had left the storybook in her car again and she just sat and looked at it stuffed in the foot-well where it wouldn't have been immediately obvious. Clearly, Henry kept leaving it for her in the hope that she would take the initiative and educate herself.

Filled with a sudden burst of determination she grabbed the book and climbed out, marching down the path to the B&B.

She wasn't going to leave that room until she had read the whole of this damn book.

* * *

It was getting late and Emma could feel her stomach growling aggressively by the time she turned the last page and finally leant back on the bed. She wasn't sure how long she'd been sat reading for, but Killian was still yet to have come back.

She shut the book closed again and just sat looking at it. How could the stuff written on these pages be true? There was no possible way for things such as dragons, magic and curses to be real; it just didn't make sense. Never mind the crazy idea of True Love's Kiss…

But then again, nothing else seemed to be making any sense recently either in the real world.

Every bone in her body was rejecting the idea that any of this was even a little bit true, but there was a small part of both her head and heart that quietly asked: ' _but what if it is true?'_ and Emma didn't know what at all to believe.

She had spent a long time staring at the page which showed a picture of Prince Charming cradling his new-born daughter and as though she was the most precious thing he'd ever seen in his life and although Emma wasn't sure why that one page had drawn her in more than all the others, it made her heart rate pick up as soon as she saw it.

She had never known her parents, never experienced a loving embrace from either of them from what she could remember and she'd certainly never been able to find out whether she'd have been a Daddy's girl or not. Any foster Fathers she'd been put in homes with had been either cold or even abusive towards her and it was only after staring at the illustration for that length of time that she realised she desperately still wanted to find her family.

In the past, the thought of finally finding her parents had always seemed impossible and like it would take a miracle, but here, in Storybrooke she almost felt like she was the closest she'd ever been in her life.

" _Are you in there, Swan?"_ called a muffled voice from behind the door _. "Can you let me in? My one hand is preoccupied at the moment."_

"Took him long enough…" Emma murmured bitterly to herself, but nevertheless got up to help. She threw open the door and then retreated back inside without so much as glancing at him.

"I bring gifts!" he announced cheerfully, dropping the takeout box on the dresser in the room and then reaching inside his jacket pocket to pull out his hook and re-attach it, clearly having taken it off since he left the Mayor's house. "Lady Lucas saw me re-entering the premises and stopped me, saying she'd not seen either of us eat anything since our arrival, so she gave me this. She mentioned something about rings of onion and whatnot…I hoped you'd make more sense of the whole thing…Swan, are you listening to me?"

"How was your secret meeting with Regina?" she asked sharply, not quite sure what to make of the jealous sounding twinge to her voice, but it was too late to retract it now.

"It went as well as could be expected…" he replied, looking at bit unsure of what he was supposed to say.

"You've been gone hours, what were you even doing in there? Did you climb in bed with her or something?" she muttered in retaliation, still not looking straight at him, instead making a beeline for the onion rings and whatever else was in the box Granny had given him.

"Of course I didn't climb in bed with her, Swan," he shot back, reaching out to grab hold of her wrist to stop her rustling through the brown paper bag she'd just found with a cheeseburger in it. "Will you just look at me?"

So, she did, with quite a lot of aggression admittedly, but she still looked at him all the same. He didn't seem phased by it however and looked directly into her eyes before letting a soft smile spread over his face, then doing that thing where he brushed her hair back out of her face with his hook carefully.

"I'm sorry I was absent for so long, I just needed to talk to her about some things."

"About the curse?" she asked raising one eyebrow, not accepting his vague answer.

"Aye, about the curse. I promised not to go around poking holes in the locals if she'd give me some intel on the crocodile."

"That's not what it sounded like from where I was standing."

All of a sudden he looked uncomfortable, scratching behind his ear awkwardly and stepping away from her to shrug off his leather jacket. "I don't know what you heard love, but none of it concerns you."

"Oh, is that so? Then how come I heard you talking about me?" she fired at him, standing with her hands on her hips.

"It's like I said before, Swan, you need to trust me!" he replied with just as much frustration.

"How can you expect me to trust you? Nothing that you've said to me so far makes any sense! I still don't understand how you got into my damn apartment last night!" she almost yelled, incredibly tempted to haul the bag of onion rings at his face. She'd tried to trust him, but it felt like they were constantly doing a dance of one step forward two steps back. After all, how could she trust someone she literally knew nothing about.

"Nothing makes sense, Swan, because you're too stubborn to really see what's in front of you! Why won't you just bloody believe everything you've seen and been told?!" he insisted, grabbing the abandoned storybook from off the bed. "Everything you need to know is in this book!"

"It's just a bunch of fairy-tales, none of its real! How can it be real?" she cried starting to feel tears of frustration appearing.

Killian slammed the book back down and stormed towards her, pulling her into his arms, not giving her a chance to back away. "Tell me, Emma. Tell me, do I feel real?" He then grabbed for one of her hands and put it on his bare chest over his beating heart. "Can you feel that? Does that feel real?"

"Stop it! You're a real person, not a fairy-tale character!" she shouted, trying to wriggle out of his hold, the tears streaming down her face in full force now. "You aren't Captain Hook for god's sake! You can't be!"

At her statement, Killian let go of her with a growl and pushed her backwards so that she fell backwards against the bed and started stripping off his waist coat and shirt before she could even tell him to stop. He tore the fabric away from his body and stood in front of her shirtless and all of a sudden it was as if Emma's heart had stopped.

He had a beautiful, toned and muscular body covered in mouth-watering dark chest hair, but his whole torso was scattered in scars, cuts and bruises some that looked more recent and fresh than others. He also had one tattoo on his right arm, the word 'Milah' was inked there and it looked like it had been there for a very long time as it was faded in places; Emma couldn't help but quietly remember that Captain Hook's lost love from the book was called 'Milah'.

But all of all of that wasn't the most shocking part of it.

He had the most incredibly complicated harness strapped to his body that went over his left shoulder and down his arm, attached with several metal buckles and at the end of the whole thing was the single silver hook. She watched as Killian yanked and loosened the buckles expertly until it was slack enough for him to remove it completely. Whilst he worked he was trying to keep his mouth clamped shut, but Emma could still hear the occasional gasp and groan of pain that managed to slip through. With one final yank, the contraption hit the carpet with a heavy thud and Killian finally looked up at Emma.

"Try telling yourself that this isn't real."

The parts of his body which had been strapped up were bruised and dark, the skin looking sore and red too, clearly from the device having to be constantly pulled tight so it didn't fall off. There were even deep looking lacerations over his shoulder where it had been cutting viciously into his skin. But without a doubt, the most harrowing thing was the hack-job that had been done when removing his hand. The scar tissue was enflamed and shiny, the skin was uneven and it was a miracle that it had even healed with the state it was in.

She now understood why he had gotten so angry when she suggested this was a costume…the pain he must have endured and still seemed to feel… It was like something from a horror movie, never mind a fairy-tale.

"Killian, I…" she started, not even sure what she was supposed to say.

"I didn't want to have to show you this, but you need to start believing, Emma and there's only so much your boy and I can do. You have to _want_ to believe it yourself."

Suddenly it was all too much and she couldn't take any more.

Killian noticed the exact second that Emma decided that she was going to bolt and he stepped in front of the door, blocking her exit from the room, but still keeping his distance so as not to spook her. "Please, love. Don't run from this, don't run from me," his voice sounded broken.

"I just need some air," she choked out, rummaging around the room looking for her keys.

"But…you'll come back afterwards?" he asked quietly, sounding more like a wounded child than the fierce man he had proved he was and the legendary pirate Captain she was starting to believe he was.

She wanted to say no and drive off and away from Storybrooke forever, but she knew there was no way for her to do that now. So, she turned to Killian, her keys now in her pocket and cautiously walked up to him and very slowly lowered her hands so that they were pressed flat against his chest.

His breathing was incredibly ragged and loud, so much so that she wondered when the last time somebody had even allowed themselves to touch him like this was. He was also shaking, something that had nothing to do with the temperature in the heated room.

" _Emma_ ," he choked out, his voice breaking half way through her name as her hands moved to his shoulders and started to run down his arms. His eyes closed slowly and she felt his whole body tense up as her right hand neared the place where his left one should have been if life had been kinder to him.

Very gently and lightly she let her finger tips gloss over the scar tissue on his wrist, not wanting to hurt him, but any complaints of pain never came.

Killian grasped hold of her left hand in his right one, interlacing their fingers, and squeezed tightly, a sign of comfort, a sign to tell her that everything was okay.

"Nobody's touched me like this since my hand was taken," he admitted quietly as she explored his skin wordlessly. "People are usually repulsed. But I don't know why I'm surprised that you're not…you're different…you're my t—"

"Shhh," Emma cut him off, something inside her already knowing what he was about to say next and she didn't want to have to think about that as well right now. She removed both of her hands off his body and instead put them on either side of his face, letting them drop down to his neck.

Then he was kissing her as if he was a starved man and she was the only one who could quench his need. She curled herself up against his chest and kissed back, letting him feel all the emotion that was pulsating through her body.

But then she realised what she was doing and pulled away. "No, I can't do this," she said harshly, half to him but also half to herself. A reminder that this path would only lead to more heartbreak, she'd been here before with Neal and she didn't need to put herself through it again.

"Swan—I" he started before Emma cut him off.

"I'm going out, I need some time to think. I'll be back later."

In some sort of whim, she grabbed the storybook off the bed before leaving and let the door slam shut behind her before either of them could utter another word.

* * *

She wasn't sure why she had ended up back in the hospital of all places sat with John Doe. It was completely silent throughout the ward apart from the sound of the monitors beeping and her quiet sobs.

She clutched the storybook to her chest just as she had seen Henry do countless times since she'd met him and closed her eyes, just trying to calm down and focus her emotions again. She was sat on the edge of the bed her free hand only a couple of inches away from where his lay next to his body.

Suddenly she had the urge to talk to this man, just to talk to him about how she was feeling… there was still part of her that was adamant that the curse wasn't real, but somewhere in her heart she couldn't help but feel connected to this coma patient, whether he was or was not Prince Charming and her Father.

"I've been alone by whole life you know…" she started, trying not to feel silly or self-conscious. "I never knew my Mom or Dad…I grew up in foster care and never got to know what it was like to have a family. And I guess I still don't know. Yesterday was my 28th Birthday and it was just like another day, but then Killian and Henry showed up and suddenly my life got a whole load of crazy pretty fast."

She laughed quietly to herself before deciding to open the book to the page of Prince Charming and his child and propped it open the chair next to the bed so she could see it. Having one moment of bravery, she reached forwards and let herself take hold of the man's hand whilst she continued to talk.

"I'm so confused right now, nothing makes an awful lot of sense. Henry claims everyone in this town, including you, is a fairy-tale character…I know, crazy, right? Something about an Evil Queen and a curse…I read the book and everything, but I'm still confused because, well, it's just a book, isn't it? There's no way that the man I've grown to care for is actually Captain Hook or that Henry's foster Mom is an Evil Queen or even that you are my Dad, because it's crazy and well…the stuff of fairy-tales."

"But I suppose that the really crazy thing is that, despite everything, I think I believe it? Does that make _me_ crazy? I know none of it makes any logical sense and if I said any of this aloud to anyone else they would lock me up in a mad-house or something…but I guess I want to believe it. I want it all to be true. Because if it is, I would have found my family and I wouldn't have to go back to my apartment in Boston and be on my own anymore. And I think that was what my birthday wish was all about. Not a short-time company thing, or the potential for a dirty night with a pirate, or even about finding my son…it was about finding a home."

By the time she had finished speaking, she was crying again, but more out of admission; she had finally decided to believe and although it was kind of liberating, it was also terrifying and set her up to fall.

"I should probably go now…Killian is unquestionably waiting for me, he'll need help putting his damned hook contraption back on- there were lots of complicated buckle things…Trust me to fall for a goddamn pirate, honestly…But yeah, uh, thanks for listening, I guess."

She squeezed his hand one last time and stood up. She didn't know what came over her, but before she could stop herself she was leaning down to press a kiss on the man's cheek. "Goodnight…Dad."

She straightened up and turned around to pick up the book and grabbed her car keys off the table before she heard some movement from behind her.

"Emma?"

She spun around again in shock, her eyes wide as she looked into the now open blue eyes of the man on the bed staring back at her, a wide smile on his face that could rival one of Henry's; which shouldn't have been such a surprise as they were in fact related.

"Just so you know, I refuse to let my daughter court a pirate."


	4. Chapter 4

Emma found herself sat in the chair next to the hospital bed, still in shock, several hours later. At first, she hadn't had any clue what to say or do as she had looked back at the now very-awake coma patient who had _actually_ ended up being her Father, but after a few seconds the monitors attached to him started to go haywire, alerting potentially everyone in the whole hospital that he was now conscious and apparently fine.

The man must have seen the panicked look on her face and determined what it was about to lead to as soon as the beeping had started. He had reached forward as best as he could whilst still attached to wires and things and grabbed hold of her hand. "Don't go, Emma. Please."

So, she hadn't, and they'd managed to make a cover story in the few moments they'd been given before a doctor came running through the door, his white coat flailing behind him. He'd charged into the room and then came to a grinding halt at the sight of the man who was now very capably sitting up in the bed by himself.

"My God…it's a miracle.." he'd said, almost inaudibly, as he finally got a grip on himself and walked slowly the rest of the way to his patient.

"Hello, Doctor," the man smiled warmly, holding out one of his hands to shake, grinning even more when the shell-shocked professional reached forwards and did the same. "Thank you for taking such good care of me."

"Yes…thank you for looking after my Brother for all this time. If I'd have known he was here, I'd…" Emma started, not one of her best performances due to the fact she was still just as shocked, if not more so, than the doctor – who thankfully didn't notice her terrible acting skills.

"It's fine, Emma, you had no way to know I was here," the man assured, turning his smile so that it was directed at her, yet again stunning her at how similar he was to Henry. "All that matters, is that you're here now. You found me."

The tears that started to flow again were in no way anything to do with an acting, performance, she was just so overwhelmed, her emotions were all over the place.

"My name is Doctor Whale," announced the still stunned man in the coat. "You've been in my care ever since you arrived here at the hospital. I don't suppose you could tell me anything about the accident you had that put you in here?"

"I'm sorry, Doctor Whale, but it all seems a bit fuzzy right now," he replied, with a cautious look at Emma, clearly not wanting to make up a story on the spot that might expose their story as a lie. "My name's David by the way," he announced, trying to change the topic.

"Well it's a pleasure to formally meet you," Whale replied with a clipped smile. "How are you feeling, David?" he asked, starting to examine him and check the stats off of the machines he was still attached to.

"I feel completely normal, fighting fit! I would very much like to be released as soon as possible though, Emma and I have a lot to catch up on," David said with a smile, reaching out to hold Emma's hand and give it a little squeeze.

"Yes, of course…I'll go and see what I can do to get you out of here as soon as I can." Doctor Whale gave another one of his tight lipped smiled before turning and walking away back the way he came with a certain spring in his step.

"He's going to go and tell Regina," Emma whispered once it had dawned on her. "I bet he's been given instructions to alert her if anything changed…she has eyes and ears everywhere, or so I've been told."

"She has no way to win this time though," he smiled back at her confidently. "This is a world without magic, she's just as powerless as you and I."

"Yeah, about that…I'm not so sure that I'm _completely_ powerless…"

* * *

"So, you made a wish, blew the candle out and he was suddenly just there?" David asked whilst they were on their way back to Granny's in her car.

The two of them had almost emotionally blackmailed Doctor Whale to release him without staying the night to be monitored as since waking up, he felt fine…being knocked out because of a curse would do that to you, it would seem. The whole situation was insane, but it appeared to have not completely hit home with Emma yet as she had somehow managed to remain fairly calm about the whole thing after the initial shock of him waking up.

"I don't know how it happened," Emma replied, "All I know is that all of a sudden he was behind me jabbing his hook thing into me."

David winced at her choice of words and had to take a few calming breaths. "I don't need to hear all of the details, Emma, thank you."

She couldn't help but roll her eyes at his sensitive reaction and then was unable to hold back the laugh when something occurred to her.  
"You do realise I have a ten-year-old kid, right? I would be more worried about any jabbing that went on back then than any going on now. I am an adult, you know?"

"I know you are…it's just going to take some getting used to," he replied, white as a sheet, trying not to make it obvious to her how queasy this conversation was making him. "You may have been born in the Enchanted Forest, but you grew up in this world…there are many differences between the two, from what I can tell."

Emma snorted and tried not to take her eyes off the road for too long as she turned back to reply to him. "Is that what you call sex before marriage and a scandalous teenage pregnancy?"

David scowled, glaring at his hands. "None of this would have happened if we were all home still…you're a Princess, Emma. You should never have had to live a life like this one if you'd been allowed the upbringing me and your Mother wanted for you."

"Trust me, I am no Princess…" she murmured quietly, pulling up outside Granny's.

"You are a Princess, though. You should have grown up getting everything you desired. Your birth right should have enabled you the perfect life…The Evil Queen tried to ruin your Mother's life with this curse and that – in turn – ruined yours…she's not going to get away with it, Emma, I swear."

Emma looked at her Father and sighed, realising for the first time the distinct similarities between them both, not sure if that comforted her or scared her half to death.

"Look, we'll address this whole thing with Regina tomorrow, right now I'm exhausted and just want some sleep," she said to him with a yawn almost as if to prove her point. "It's been a really long day."

David nodded in agreement and gestured for her to lead the way up to the room which she was sharing with Captain Hook; something David had almost thrown a hissy fit over when she'd explained the situation to him briefly as they sat waiting in the hospital to be discharged.

She had to knock on the door once they reached the room due to the fact it was locked and she didn't have a key, praying that Killian was still awake to let them in so they didn't have to sleep in the hallway outside.

Thankfully as soon as she knocked she heard movement from inside and then the door was torn open impatiently.

"Swan, where the bloody hell have you been?! It's almost morning, do you know how worried I've been?!"

She simply rolled her eyes and walked past him. She was an adult, she had every right to come and go as she pleased. "I'm fine, see? Alive and well. No big deal."

No big deal!? I was on the verge of calling the authorities to send out a search party and the last thing I wanted was to have to have another conversation with that head guard bloke!" he snapped, following her back inside, not even noticing David's presence yet as he just stood at the door awkwardly, observing the panicked man tell his Daughter off for being out too late. This was not the fearsome pirate Captain he was expecting to encounter.

"Graham is the Sheriff, not a guard!" Emma snapped back at him, crossing her arms and finally turning to look at him once she'd found the cold onion rings from earlier and started munching on them. "What is it to you anyway, Killian? You're acting like my Father, for gods' sake!"

"Emma," he replied in a quiet, almost dangerous voice that sent a weird feeling coursing around her body and she shivered impulsively as he stepped closer to her and used his hook to move her hair aside again, leaning down to murmur in her ear and drop a kiss onto the newly exposed skin of her neck. "Love, I am _not_ your Father."

"No, you're not. _I_ am, and I would like it if you could take your filthy hands off my Daughter!" David finally yelled, making his presence known at last before he ended up witnessing something incredibly disturbing.

"Technically, he only has one hand…" Emma muttered under her breath in retaliation, stepping away from the pirate and moving close the door to the room before they woke up any of their neighbours with the shouting match that was almost certainly about to unfurl.

"You're her Father?" Killian asked, eyebrows raised in surprise, looking at the other person in the room for the first time. His eyes flickered between the man and Emma and then settled on the storybook that David was holding as Emma had given it to him to flick through whilst they were sat in the hospital.

"Yes. And you're Captain Hook," David replied in a harsh, obviously judgemental voice. "What makes you think you're good enough for my Daughter?"

"Excuse me, mate, but what right do you have to go throwing around the protective Father role when you met the lass several hours ago?" Killian replied, clearly trying to maintain his composure, but Emma could see behind his charade and could see how bothered he was by this whole conversation.

"It does not matter how long I have known her, what matters is her heritage! She is a Princess, and you're— "

"A pirate," Killian finished for him with a tight-lipped smile. "Believe me, I am well aware of what I am. And judging by the fact that we are here having this conversation, I'm guessing that Emma is now fully aware of that too?" He looked in her direction, almost desperate for the proof that she now believed in the whole thing, she met his eyes and immediately felt the panic set in.

"Oh, yeah. I'm aware alright," she replied to him, dragging her hands through her hair exasperatedly, feeling agitated with both the men in the room with her, but finding herself unable to stop firing all of her frustrations at the one in leather pants. "Of all the men for the universe to choose to have magically popping into my kitchen, it just _had_ to be a pirate! It couldn't have been an ordinary man or even a Prince or a Duke or whatever. Nope. For Emma Swan, she gets Captain Hook."

She wasn't even remotely finished with her rant yet, but she had to tear her eyes off Killian's face, as she couldn't bear seeing how much her words were really hurting him even though he was trying his best to look nonchalant about the whole thing. So, she turned her attention to the other man – who looked equally as concerned when he realised the flames were coming for him— and decided to shout at him for a bit too to make everything a bit more equal.

"Look, I appreciate that you're only trying to help, but you have only just met me. You don't know anything about me, about who I am as a person or anything really about what the first twenty-eight years of my life have been like. You keep going on and on about me being a Princess, but trust me, I definitely do not fit the definition of that word at all. And yes, I know he's a _pirate_ and I'm a _Princess_ , but I'm willing to bet the universe, for some reason, thought we were well suited for… _this_ to happen."

All three of them immediately knew exactly what she was getting at without actually having to say the words out loud. Emma thought if anybody actually verbalised it properly, it was incredibly likely that she'd end up projectile vomiting up the three onion rings she'd only just swallowed.

It only took reading the outcome of several of the tales in the storybook to understand how powerful a wish was and what kind of outcome they usually provided. She had wished to not be alone anymore…so she had been sent the one person in the whole universe that was meant to be by her side forever…and then she had smashed him round the head with her lamp and knocked him unconscious.

It was a justifiable move at the time and she still didn't feel guilty for it. He'd been a douchebag too on arrival, after all.

But just because the universe told her he was her perfect match, did not mean that Emma was going to let it dictate her life and take her choices away from her. As it so happened, she was perfectly happy as a single woman and she had no ambition to alter that anytime soon…something she had to keep reminding herself of, as the memory of Killian's electric kiss a few hours earlier kept resurfacing in her brain, almost as if to mock her and her situation.

The room was silent for a few moments as nobody knew quite what to say, so Emma took that as the cue to finally go to bed and get some sleep. But this put her in a predicament—she wasn't too keen to sleep in her jeans again tonight but she'd not had time to go and find some clothes to wear since arriving.

Almost as if he'd read her mind, Killian threw a black shirt at her from across the room, still trying not to maintain eye contact. When she unfolded it, she realised it was his pirate shirt that he'd been wearing under all his leather previously.

"Thanks," she mumbled, shrugging off her jacket and then disappearing into the bathroom to change. As soon as she shut the door behind herself she heard the two men talking in hushed tones, probably hoping she was unable to hear them.

" _Let me give you a bit of advice, Hook. She's never going to really like you."_

" _Is that so?"_

" _How could she? You're nothing but a pirate. Stay away from my Daughter."_

" _Well, she can take care of herself. She doesn't need your parenting, which is a good thing."_

" _What does that mean?"_

" _She seemed to turn out okay, even though you forced her to grow up alone."_

" _We didn't have a choice! Not that I have to explain myself to you…"_

" _You put your whole kingdom before your new-born child. She wasn't even an hour old before you put her in a bloody wardrobe and shipped her off! That's not good form, mate."_

" _I am not your 'mate'. And what would you know about good form, pirate?"_

"Stop it, both of you!" Emma finally cut in after rushing to get changed and ready for bed as fast as possible to stop them before they ripped each other to pieces.

At the sound of the bathroom door being thrown open, Killian bit back the retort that was just about to leave his mouth and David had the decency to look embarrassed.

"Emma, I didn't realise you—" he started trying to explain himself before she cut him off.

"You didn't realise I could hear your conversation? Well, I'm not deaf, so… Yeah. Anyway, I'm gonna go to sleep now if that's okay with the two of you?" Emma didn't even wait for an answer, simply turned off the light and walked in the semi-darkness over to the bed and climbed in, wiggling right into the middle so that there was room either side of her. "There's just about room in here for you both, but you'll have to leave your bad attitudes and egos outside I'm afraid."

Killian began removing his clothes silently and efficiently and once he was down to just his leather pants and the harness, he removed his hook – putting it on the bedside table – and then carefully climbed in bed next to Emma, very aware of how much closer they were physically tonight than last night, due to the extra person needing to share the bed.

But, said 'extra person' was apparently not done throwing a hissy fit for the night just yet.

"Emma, you cannot be serious about sharing a bed with him? Do you know what kind of reputation he has when it comes to women?" David asked in a raised voice that was clearly supposed to reflect authority, but succeeded in making him sound slightly unhinged.

"I don't really care right now, David," she replied with her eyes closed hoping sleep would just spontaneously take her despite the noise going on around her. "I just need to get some sleep."

"But he—"

"—Is not going to do anything untoward…I assure you. I may be a pirate, but I'm still a gentleman," Killian replied, also closing his eyes, trying to get some rest.

"Also, he'd lose his other hand if he put it anywhere unsavoury, so it's really not in his best interest to attempt anything," Emma added, and she physically felt Killian shift a bit further away from her under the duvet at her statement...a smart move.

Although he still didn't look too pleased, David climbed into the bed on Emma's other side without another argument and then finally it was silent.

Thankfully, all three of them slept soundly for the rest of the night, ready to face the situation in the morning with a fresh mind-set.

* * *

Emma offered to go down to Granny's Diner to go and grab some breakfast once they'd all woken up and got ready for the day. She was absolutely starving after barely eating the day before and consequently she practically skipped down the corridor and into the heart of the restaurant to be hit by the tempting smell of cooking bacon and coffee.

"Ah, good morning, Miss Swan!" called Mrs Lucas from behind the counter, coming over to talk to the blonde as soon as she spotted her.

"Morning," Emma replied, slightly awkward at the enthusiastic welcome she'd received. "Three bacon sandwiches, three stacks of pancakes with maple syrup, two coffee's and one hot chocolate to go, please."

"You and your boyfriend feeling hungry today?" she replied with a wink, nevertheless writing down the order and passing it to Ruby, who walked it through to the kitchen.

"Hmm?"

"Three sandwiches, three pancakes…that's a lot of food for two. My portions are rather generous, you know."

"Oh, um…it's not all for us. You see, I recently tracked my Brother down and he's also in need of a hearty breakfast."

"Well, that's wonderful news!" the old woman smiled genuinely. "Family is very important to everyone here in Storybrooke, I'm glad you've found a way back to yours."

Emma managed a tight-lipped smile in return and after Mrs Lucas walked away, she took a seat at the bench so she could wait for her food to be prepared.

Unfortunately, she wasn't going to be able to wait in peace as the front door opened and in walked Regina Mills in one of her smart suits and good shoes. Regina spotted Emma and almost marched straight up to her, clearly a woman on a mission.

Emma tried so hard to not think of this woman as the Evil Queen she'd read about in the book, but she couldn't help it and naturally found herself taking an even more pissed off tone with the woman who effectively ruined her life.

"Miss Swan, might I have a quick word?"

"Do I have a choice?" Emma replied with a sigh.

"No. You don't," Regina shot back. "I want you to stay away from Henry."

"I'm sorry, but that's not gonna happen." Emma stood up again and faced the dark-haired woman properly and noticed just how tense she looked. "You may not like it, but I am in Henry's life now."

"Need I remind you again that you have no legal right to him?" Regina snapped, louder than she probably intended, drawing the attention of the people sat nearby.

"I know, but if he wants me around, then I'm staying."

"As of this moment, I am forbidding him to see you, Miss Swan. He's grounded and I intend on making sure to see through his punishment."

"You mean _my_ punishment?" Emma realised, glaring at the other woman. "You can't use him to punish me, that's not fair on Henry!"

"What would you know about how to be a Mother?" Regina spat viciously. "If you want to do what's best for Henry, then you'll leave town, taking your boyfriend with you."

"It's like I said," Emma started, letting a small smug smirk spread across her face. "I'm not going anywhere. Especially since I recently found a member of my family up at the hospital. Thankfully, he's miraculously awake from his coma now and I intend on spending as much time with him as possible. I've not seen my _Brother_ for a very long time, and we have lots of catching up to do."

All of the colour slowly drained from Regina's face and her eyes widened first in concern, as she realised what Emma was saying, but then they filled with fury. Then without another word she turned and left the Diner as briskly as she had arrived. Clearly, Doctor Whale had not gone running to the Mayor to tell her the news like she'd suspected.

Well, she'd done it now either way. She'd be receiving death threats by her next meal for certain.

"Your order, Miss Swan!"

At least she could enjoy breakfast then if it was to be her last proper meal.

"Thanks," she grinned at Mrs Lucas, taking the brown paper bag and cup holder off her containing her drinks. "Just put the food on the bill for my room."

"Absolutely, enjoy the rest of your day!"

Once positive she had a good grip on the food, Emma made to head back to her room, but was stopped by the sound of the door opening again and then a cheerful voice calling to her from across the room.

"Hi Emma!"

Emma looked back at Henry in surprise before gathering her wits again and gave him a dry look as he walked over to her. "Aren't you supposed to be at school by now, kid? And aren't you already supposed to be grounded?"

"I decided to miss a few classes today, so that we could catch up on Operation Cobra!" he grinned, following her around the corner and down the corridor towards her room in the B&B.

"Operation what now?" she asked, shooting a look at him over her shoulder to make sure he was still following her.

"Operation Cobra," he replied as if that was all he needed to say for her to understand what he was going on about.

"Cobra? That has nothing to do with fairy-tales," she pointed out, not quite sure where he was going with all this.

"Exactly. It's a code name to throw the Queen off the trail."

"Ah right," she grinned when she realised what he was getting at. "However, I'm not so sure how subtlety is going to work after the conversation I just had with your Mom."

"What do you mean?" Henry asked, reaching up to take the brown paper bag off her so she could manage to open the door to get into the room.

"Hang on two seconds and I think you'll know just what I mean," she replied with a smirk as she finally managed to wrestle the door open. "Oh shoot…I forgot ketchup for the sandwiches…do you mind running back to grab some?"

Henry simply shrugged at her and smiled, "Sure, be right back!" He passed her back the food now she'd opened the door and bolted back down the corridor.

Emma watched him run down the hall with a smile, he was going to be so excited to hear about all that had happened last night.

"Ah, Swan! Thank god you're back, your Father has been complaining about his hunger pains for what seems like hours now!" Killian announced as soon as she stepped into the room, leaving the door open for Henry to come back through.

"Nice try, Hook. But you're the one who I distinctly remember saying 'if I don't have something to eat soon, I may have to result to eating some of that cold grease-filled feast from last night'!" David retaliated, finishing tying his shoelaces up.

"Well don't you worry, I come with a fresh and _hot_ grease-filled feast fit for royalty, so don't panic," she smiled dryly at Killian, passing David the hot drinks so she could open the food back and inhale the wonderful smell coming from inside it. "I have bacon sandwiches and pancakes."

"That sounds wonderful, Emma," David smiled at her thankfully, putting the drinks down on the dresser and going into the bathroom to finish getting ready. "I'll be ready in just two seconds!"

As soon as the bathroom door shut Henry ran back into the room, clutching a handful of sachets of ketchup.

"Good morning, lad!" Killian announced cheerfully at the sight of the boy. "Have you come to have breakfast with us?"

"Something like that," Emma answered for him, taking the ketchup out of his hands with a quick smile. "He's skiving school again."

Killian raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. "Atta boy! Keeping the authorities on their toes, I see! I'll make a pirate out of you yet!"

"No, you will not!" Emma replied instantly, a panicked look on her face. "His Mother would happily murder us both."

"Live a little, Swan!" Killian laughed. "Besides, he's _your_ Son and you've got a definite pirate streak in you!"

"I do not!" she insisted, clearly affronted.

"Well, you're more of a pirate than a Princess," he winked, giving Henry a teasing shove as he moved to close the door.

Henry laughed and looked at the leather-clad man and gave him a shit-eating grin. "I don't mind being a pirate, Emma!"

"God…I'm a dead woman," she groaned, plonking herself down on the bed with a sigh.

"You didn't by any chance get any pancakes, did you?" Henry suddenly asked again with an innocent smile, clearly moving on from the previous conversation.

"Sure, kid," she gave in with a laugh. "Help yourself."

"So, we need a plan for what we're going to do today," announced David, throwing open the bathroom door and walking confidently into the middle of the room and then suddenly his eyes drifted onto Henry. "Oh, hey. Henry, isn't it?"

Henry was literally stunned to silence as he gaped open mouthed at the man who he had seen just last night still comatose in the hospital. Slowly a grin started to spread across his face, overtaking the shock and he spun around and threw his arms around Emma with such force she nearly fell off the bed.

"You did it! You woke him up! You believe!" he shouted excitedly, clinging onto her for dear life.

"Yeah," Emma replied nonchalantly, as if it was no big deal, when inside she still hadn't finished freaking out about the whole thing yet herself. "I had a bit of help though," she admitted, gesturing to the pirate who was stood watching the exchange with a knowing smirk.

"I knew you could help her believe!" Henry beamed at him, still hugging his Mother as if he didn't ever want to let go of her, and she didn't seem to want him to let go yet either.

"It was my pleasure, lad," Killian replied with a little bow. "It wasn't an easy task though; your Mother is one stubborn lass."

"How did you do it?" Henry asked eagerly, wanting to know every detail and commit it to memory.

Killian snuck a look at David and then smirked dangerously. "In the end, all it took was for me to take my clothes off for her. Seeing me half-naked is enough to turn any woman into a believer. I _am_ devilishly handsome after all." He shot a sly wink at Emma who sighed exasperatedly at his behaviour and then turned Henry's attention back to the other man in the room to try and distract her Father from having a heart attack or murdering the pirate Captain she was somehow quite fond of.

"Henry, this is David. David, this is Henry."

Henry finally let go of Emma and stood up straight, looking at Prince Charming for the first time before he spoke. "Grandpa?"

David merely laughed as if he couldn't quite believe it either. "Yeah, kid. I suppose so." And then he moved to wrap an arm around the boy who was still grinning as if Christmas and his birthday had arrived at the same time.

"She did it," Henry grinned, hugging David back. "She saved you."

"But the question is, how?" Killian asked, moving to lean against the wall, looking between every person in the room to see if they had any explanation for it before settling on Emma. "Love? How did you wake him?"

"I'm not sure…" she answered uncertainly, looking at David for help.

"We have plenty of time to figure that out," David replied calmly, taking hold of his Daughters' hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Henry, who had made a start on the breakfast Emma had provided, started flicking through the storybook with a pancake hanging out of his mouth. Once he'd found the page of Prince Charming and baby Emma in the book, he removed the pancake and chewed before saying thoughtfully, "I think we should try and see if you can wake somebody else up, to see if this was just a freak coincidence."

"That's a great idea," David replied with a nod, already letting a smile spread across his face. "And I know who we should try waking next. Your Mother will be very unhappy with me if she finds out I've spent all this time with you, Emma and she's been stuck in an alternate mind-set."

"You want to try waking Snow White?" Henry asked excitedly, his eyes lighting up even more if that was even possible.

"I have already spent far too long apart from my wife," he explained, taking the book off Henry and finding a page with a picture of Snow and sighing. "She won't remember any of this, won't remember me… we need to wake her."

Emma nodded in agreement, seeing how desperate David was to be reunited with Snow. Anyways, she also wanted to be reunited with her Mother and to be with her whole family at last; they had a lot of catching up to do.

"Wait a minute, how do we go about waking the lass when we don't know where she is or even _who_ she is in this godforsaken town?" Killian asked, also moving to get a glimpse at the picture David was still looking at yearningly.

"Unfortunately, the pirate has a point," David muttered dejectedly.

Hook couldn't help the smirk that took over his face and he grinned at the Prince. "I'm winning you over, I can feel it."

"We already know who she is and where she is," Emma said, quickly interrupting the two men before they could start fighting again.

"Yeah," Henry agreed with her with a beam. "She's my teacher, Miss Blanchard!"

"Well at least she'd not married to somebody else in town if she's still a 'miss'..." David muttered, almost to himself.

"Her name's Mary-Margaret here," Emma carried on explaining, "She gave me a hard-hitting lecture on my dubious life choices yesterday…I should have known she was my Mom. She kept going on about the importance of hope."

"That does sound like her," David laughed, "She is very optimistic."

"Well, mate, why don't you drop the lad off at school as use that as an excuse to re-introduce yourself to this new version of your Mrs?" Killian suggested, ruffling Henry on the head, causing him to laugh and shove the pirate away. "I can't be having both his Mothers coming after me for leading the boy into a life of piracy after-all."

"What do you mean, 'both his Mothers'?" David asked, turning to Emma in confusion.

"How about that's something you and Henry discuss on your way to school?" Emma prompted, giving Henry a look which he was able to read immediately.

"Come on, Grandpa. I'll fill you in on the way!"

"That's going to take some getting used to," David laughed again at being called 'Grandpa', but nevertheless grabbed a bacon sandwich to-go out of the brown bag and then walked to the door of the room and opened it for them both. "I'll catch up with you both later, we still need to form a proper plan."

"Sure, see you in a bit," Emma called back as he closed the door behind them and as soon as she'd heard their footsteps disappearing down the hall, she turned to the pirate who was watching her carefully from his place across the room. "So, Captain…Fancy another shopping trip?"

* * *

Three hours later found the two of them sat in a booth in Granny's, several shopping bags at their feet. They had bought more clothes for both of them, toiletries and general supplies—if they were hanging around for the foreseeable future, they needed to be well equipped.

Killian had been most intrigued by the underwear that Emma had selected for herself and thrown into the basket whilst they shopped—having never seen such unusual garments before due to women of the Enchanted Forest wearing items such as pantaloons and corsets to go under their clothing. He had stood staring at the mannequin modelling such fashion items for far too long and in the end had to be forcefully dragged away by his blonde counterpart before they drew any more attention to themselves than necessary.

After since trying his first ever coffee that morning, Killian seemed to have fallen in love with the drink, and – fining it a bit more acceptable than rum to drink during the daytime – Emma was doing nothing to curb his new addiction. He was just about to finish his third since sitting down when Ruby came over with a new cup and placed it down in front of Emma.

"Here you go!"

"Thank you, but I did not order that," Emma said perplexed, looking at the incredibly tempting hot chocolate with cream and cinnamon on top and almost wishing she _had_ ordered it herself.

"Yeah, I know," Ruby smiled deviously. "You have an admirer."

"An admirer?" Killian snapped, almost choking on his coffee. "Where? What idiot felt that he could steal my woman from right under my nose?!"

"Steady on there, caveman." Emma rolled her eyes at his possessive display before gazing around their surroundings to see who was nearby. Her eyes eventually fell on the Sheriff who was sat a few booths down looking like he was trying very hard to look the other way, innocently, only succeeding, however, in assuring Emma that he was the guilty culprit.

"I'll be right back," she said with a sigh, standing up, stretching her legs and then grabbing the cup of hot chocolate and walking over towards Graham.

As he spotted her nearing him, he pretended to be surprised to see her and then smiled, taking a sip of his own drink. "Ah, so you decided to stay!"

"Observant. Important for a cop," she replied dryly, giving him a small smile in return.

"That's good news for our tourist business," he shot back, almost grinning from ear to ear, as if he was attempting to be flirtatious with her.

"Look," Emma started, deciding to address the situation before it became even more of an issue and Killian ended up thrown behind bars for shredding the Sheriff into ribbons for looking at her in the wrong way. "The cocoa was a nice gesture and I am impressed that you guessed that I like cinnamon on my chocolate, cause most people don't, but I am not here to flirt, so thank you, but no thank you."

She put the cup down in front on him on the table and he just nodded almost as if in understanding, but his smile barely faltered.

"Honestly, keep the cocoa, I'm a coffee man myself. Anyway, I didn't get it for you to gain access into your pants, it's a thank you for your help yesterday. It became clear to me that I am a bit behind the times and could do with dragging into the modern world, so to speak. Computers and technology are not a strong point of mine."

"Well, it's like I said yesterday; you're on payroll, I get paid on delivery. I have to be efficient," she replied with a sigh, picking up the hot chocolate and taking a sip.

"Nevertheless, I owe you a debt of gratitude. Regina can be a little…trying at times," he said quietly as if he expected her to leap out from under the woodworm and attack.

"Trust me, I picked that up pretty fast," she laughed, thinking about the woman who didn't seem to know what it was like to not get her own way once in a while.

"Anyway, your help was severely appreciated and needed and I wanted to say thank you," he carried on, clearly trying to steer the conversation away from Regina Mills.

"Oh? And all I get is a cocoa?" she teased, taking another large sip before talking again. "Don't I deserve something more substantial than just that? Like a commendation? The Key to the City?"

"How about a job? I could use a deputy."

Whatever she thought she was expecting to hear, that wasn't it.

"Thank you, but I have a job," she replied, trying not to look as shocked as actually she was. If someone had told her ten years ago she'd been offered a job to work for the law she'd have laughed in their face.

"As a bail bondsperson? There's not much of that going on here," he pointed out with a smile.

"I don't see an awful lot of Sheriffing going on around here, either," she shot back, challenging him.

"Well, here's your chance to see it up close," he announced enthusiastically, "There's dental." When he realised his attempt at persuading her was falling short, he sighed and stood up, reaching into his pocket to pass her a card with his number on it. "Why don't you think about it and stay a while?"

Then he finished the rest of his coffee and bid her goodbye, heading back outside and jumping into the cruiser which was parked just outside the door.

Emma went to walk back over to where she was sat with Killian before and found him deep in conversation with Ruby, whilst she stuck out her exposed chest and played with her hair, giggling girlishly. Immediately, Emma saw red (something she wouldn't realise the humour in until later) and she marched the rest of the way up to the table and slid into the booth next to Killian so she was almost sat on top of his lap.

"Sorry that took so long," she announced, disrupting whatever conversation they'd been having, also dropping a lingering kiss on Killian's cheek for good measure and to make sure Ruby got the message loud and clear. "Not interrupting anything, am I?"

"Of course not, love," Kilian replied smugly, finding her jealously incredibly amusing. "Miss Lucas here was just telling me about the lack of fun in this town!"

Emma tried her best not to openly glare at the waitress – who was still lurking by the table for some reason – and, instead, tried to calmly respond to her 'boyfriend'.

"Well, I doubt that'll be a problem for us, sweetheart," she said, trying not to come across as passive aggressive as she smiled through clenched teeth. "We have enough _fun_ on our own, don't we?"  
This time Killian was unable to hold back the full blown seductive smirk that spread across his features as he wiggled his eyebrows flirtatiously and threw an arm around her waist, pulling her even tighter against his body. "I suppose you're right, love. We can have all the fun in the world simply from inside a hotel room."

"Erm, I'm just going to go and see to some of the other customers…see you guys around," Ruby finally muttered sheepishly before shuffling off, much to Emma's delight.

Once Ruby was far enough away, Emma tried to wriggle out of Killian grasp, but he held her flush against him.

"You're not running off anywhere, lass, after a show like that," he chuckled, leaning down to nip the side of her neck teasingly before whispering in her ear. "I didn't take you as the possessive type, Swan."

"Well I didn't see you as the type to touch a woman against her will!" she fired back defensively, giving him a shove which did succeed in putting some distance between them, however, the smile on Killian's face didn't falter.

"I'm not," he grinned, "In case you mistook me for an unobservant man, I just thought I'd point out I'm very aware just how _willing_ you are, when you let your walls down for a minute at least."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

Killian was just about to answer when the sound of someone clearing their throat next to them drew their attention away from each other and to Mr Gold who was stood next to the table with a friendly smile on his face that Emma wasn't sure she trusted at all, never mind Killian who had started to shake angrily at the sight of his 'crocodile' again.

"Good afternoon, Miss Swan, Mr Jones," he said politely, his eyes glancing from one of them to the other. "How are you finding our quaint little town?"

"Quaint," Emma retorted instantly, trying to smile back at the man whilst anchoring Killian down to his seat, grateful that she was still pretty much almost sat on him, blocking his exit from the booth.

Mr Gold chuckled at her response before carrying on talking as if he didn't even sense the hostility radiating off the man at the table.

"I heard through the grapevine that you have recently been united with both your Son and your long-lost foster Brother, Miss Swan. Congratulations, it's such wonderful news when a family finds themselves together again at last after a long separation."

"Oh, well, thank you," Emma replied, not quite sure where this conversation was going, or how he'd heard anything about David or Henry. Clearly Storybrooke loved its gossip.

"What are your long-term plans, if you don't mind me asking?" he pressed, looking at her intently.

"How do you mean?" she replied, feeling Killian start to relax a little next to her as his curiosity obviously got to him.

"Well, are you intending on staying in town? Your Son is here and your Brother will undoubtedly want to continue his life here as well…what are your plans?"

That took her off guard a little, which was something that seemed to be happening more often than not recently.

"I'm not really sure what's happening at the moment, if I'm honest, Mr Gold," she said carefully, not wanting to answer for Killian as well as herself.

"We are sticking around for a while though," Killian suddenly said, "to get everything in order, you understand."

Gold and Killian made direct eye-contact and Emma could feel that something vitally important was just conveyed by that one look, but she had no idea just what.

"So, you'd be happy to stay with Miss Swan to help sort her family life out even though they aren't your family or your responsibility?" Gold challenged, still not breaking out of Killian's gaze.

"Her family is my family. I'm not leaving her. Especially when there's so much…unfinished business to attend to."

"Quite right, there is," Gold smiled cordially, straightening up and looking at Emma again, but something was different this time, it was as if he was looking straight into her soul.

"Well, I just came over to say, I have a house that has just come up to rent that would probably be perfect for your needs, if you decided to make your stay a little more permanent," he said, taking a set of keys out of his pocket and handing them to a shell-shocked Emma. "The address is on the keychain, feel free to go and have a look around. Come and see me at my shop after you've had time to think about your decision."

"That's very generous of you to think of us, Mr Gold, but as I said—"

"I know, you're not sure," he replied, cutting her off. "But I will say this: if you are serious about wanting to be in your Son's life, you will need to show the Mayor that you mean to stay and put up a fight. As you must already know, she is a very formidable woman who makes an even more formidable enemy. You need to be ready to fight if you want to remain seeing Henry."

Emma was about to respond to his speech before turned and walked back through the door, letting it shut loudly behind him as he retreated towards his shop, leaving her to stare gobsmacked at the set of house keys she had in her hand.


	5. Chapter 5

"So…what do you think?"

"It's a lot bigger than my ship's quarters."

"It's a heck of a lot smaller than our castle."

"That'll be because you're no King or Prince in this realm, mate," Killian said cheerfully, slapping a very disgruntled David on the back. "I'm afraid you'll have to rough it like the rest of us commoners."

"The only commoner here is you, Hook," David growled in response, glaring at the pirates' retreating form as he disappeared into the kitchen again, mesmerised by all the appliances in there that he'd never seen nor heard of before.

"Your words wound me, mate. Truly, it's a pain that could rival even the agony I experienced when losing my hand," he called back sarcastically from out of view, his voice being accompanied by the sound of the tap being turned on and off repeatedly.

"Well _I_ think this place is pretty great—if we decide we want to stay in Storybrooke permanently, that is," Emma commented before either of the boys could continue to argue.

"What do you mean 'if we decide to stay'? Of course we're staying," David announced firmly, turning properly to face his daughter. "Why wouldn't we stay?"

"Because I have a life in Boston that I should be getting back to!" she replied defensively, crossing her arms over her chest.

"A very lonely life though, Swan," Killian called from the kitchen, whilst opening and closing all the drawers one by one.

"I don't need to defend my life choices to a pirate!" she snapped, following where his voice had previously come from and catching him with his whole head inside the fridge. "You don't exactly have a long line of devoted friends and family queuing up at your door either!"

"I'm over 200 years old, love. Why bother making friends if they simply continue to die," he replied calmly, trying not to rise to her level of irritation.

"Incredibly morbid…" David muttered almost inaudibly to himself, deciding to go and explore the bathroom tiles whilst the other two fought.

"I learnt very early on that you can't trust anybody," Emma finally admitted after the two of them held a heated gaze for longer than should have felt comfortable.

"What does that have to do with any of this though?" Killian asked carefully, finally closing the fridge door and walking over to her.

"Because how can I be sure all of this won't go to shit and leave me where I started – back on my own again – either way!"

There it was—the real reason for her indecision. If she was going to be alone again, she'd rather it be on her own terms. She'd already had more than enough abandonment and rejection in her twenty-eight years of life and she didn't fancy having to go through anymore heartache.

"Swan, you don't honestly believe you'd be able to get rid of your family, do you?" he asked in disbelief, looking at her and seeing the first sign of her protective walls coming down and revealing underneath just how scared she was.

"David was able to do it before—even if it was for the greater good. Who's to say that if a similar situation arose again he wouldn't do exactly the same thing," she sighed, moving to sit herself at the kitchen table. "If he could put a new-born baby in a wardrobe, knowing they would be apart for decades, why wouldn't he be able to walk away from a fully-grown adult he barely knows?"

"Emma, he's already threatened my life should I be ungentlemanly towards you seven times this morning. He's not going anywhere," Killian pointed out, joining her at the table whilst keeping the door in his peripheral vision should the protective father come rushing back inside, wielding a toilet brush, ready to duel him to the death for getting too close to his daughter.

"There are things in my past that I can't have him knowing, Killian…" Emma admitted after a minute. "I have made so many mistakes…I'm not the little perfect Princess he wanted as a daughter…how can I possibly be anything other than a massive disappointment?"

"Everybody makes mistakes. I'm willing to bet you that I have done far many worse deeds in one year than you have in your whole life, love," he replied, a dark look filtering across his face, clearly seeing ghosts from his past that he would never truly be free from.

"You're Captain Hook, though…I'm sure the things you have done are appropriate for a pirate. I hardly think shoplifting and a scandalous teenage pregnancy is appropriate behaviour for a Princess."

"But when a scandalous teenage pregnancy ends up creating a lad as special as Henry, how can it ever be considered a negative thing?"

"But it's not due to me that he's as special as he is. Regina has done a wonderful job with him…"

"Emma," he interrupted her quickly. "Don't go down that thought process. You are his mother, no matter who raised him. He's definitely your boy."

"I think he'd be better without me in his life…'

"So that's why he went through all the effort of finding you, is it? Because if he was so much better without you I doubt he would have bothered."

"You think I should stay, don't you?" she said after a moments silence to process what he was trying to indirectly tell her.

"Truthfully? Aye."

"I'm not exactly mother material though, Killian," she sighed, thinking about Regina – the Mayor, for Christ sakes – and her fancy-ass pant suits and massive house compared to Emma's red leather jacket and her small flat that she could barely afford to pay the rent for as it was. There was no way she'd be able to provide Henry with anything that Regina didn't already give him.

"You're already great with that boy, Swan," he insisted, looking at her intensely with almost a hint of desperation in his eyes. "The Evil Queen is not exactly prime mother material either. Do you really want the woman who deprived you of your childhood to help form your sons? Do you want him to spend his whole life calling her his mother when she took away yours from you? Swan, that woman took away your whole life in one way or another. You can't let her keep Henry from you."

That was all it took. With a few choice words, she had made her decision.

"Like hell am I going to let that bitch win. I'm gonna phone Gold now, 7 West Street just got itself three new tenants."

Then it was like a powerful earthquake hit the house, making everything rattle and shake for about five seconds and then it stopped suddenly.

"What the hell was that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, love."

"Hey, guys! You've got to come check this out!"

Emma and Killian gave each other one last searching look before standing and moving over to where they'd heard David's voice travel from in the house. They found him standing in one of the upstairs bedrooms that had windows facing out over the docks. He was looking out over the sea and had his eyes fixated on one thing that stood out like a sore-thumb amongst all the fishing boats.

Emma walked over to stand next to her father and barely held the gasp of shock when she realised what David had seen. She scarcely needed to look at it for half a second before she was walking over to Killian and dragging him from where he was stood at the doorway over to the window.

"Is that…?"

"Bloody hell…how has the Jolly Roger managed to end up in the Storybrooke harbour?!"

* * *

Just when she thought they day couldn't possibly get any weirder, Emma found herself walking across the deck of the apparently _invisible_ centuries old pirate ship, captained bY none other than the attractive, hooked man who had been excitedly bounding around the vessel for the past hour as if he was trying to ensure himself that it was real.

Whilst the man-child had skipped around, David had taken it upon himself to 'keep watch' even though they soon realised they were the only people in town that could actually see the ship at all. It was a fricking _humongous_ pirate ship taking up half the harbour, yet nobody even spared it so much as a glance from on shore.

This whole magic thing was going to take a while to get used to.

"Just look at the old girl! She's in fine shape!" Killian exclaimed excitedly, running his hands down the polished wood fondly.

"One might even say 'shipshape'," Emma shot back in her best attempt at an English accent, having to try incredibly hard not to roll her eyes as well as make a sarcastic comment—that may have caused more upset than she wanted to deal with.

Yes, the Captain was a very dangerous man, but it was clear that he could hold a grudge and could probably sulk forever if he saw fit.

"Very funny, lass," he replied with a laugh. "Joke all you want, but this ship means a great deal to me and I honestly never thought I'd see her again. I never thought I'd know the feeling to stand behind the wheel again."

"Well, this is all well and good," David announced suddenly, "but how the hell has this massive boat—"

"—ship—" Killian interjected, looking thoroughly offended at his pride and joy being put in the same category as the small vessels bobbing on the water down below the Jolly in the harbour.

"Okay…how the hell has this massive _ship_ managed to get here? And how on earth is it invisible?" David asked, looking between his two companions, hoping that one of them had an answer that would explain everything.

"No idea, mate," Killian said after a second. "Do you have any suggestions, Swan?"

"Henry said things had started changing since I got into town…" she suddenly recalled, turning away from the boys and looking up at the clock tower—which had magically started working again as soon as she'd stayed the night. "I just decided to stay in Storybrooke permanently…that counts as a milestone, doesn't it?"

A wide grin slowly spread across David's face at her words. "So, we're staying here in town?"

"I can't let Regina win," Emma replied fiercely.

"She won't," he assured her, just as passionately, wrapping her into a hug, cradling the back of her head with his hand. "That woman won't do anything else to hurt this family."

"Will you tell me about you and Mom?"

Emma wasn't sure where the question had come from, but it was too late to take it back now. David pulled back out of the embrace slightly and smiled down at her with only a slight hint of sadness reflected in his blue eyes.

"I never knew it was possible for someone to be both a fierce warrior and yet also a delicate Princess with a heart of pure gold at the same time. I always knew she was my True Love, ever since that first meeting."

"Didn't she steal from you and then hit you in the face with a rock?" Emma replied sceptically.

David laughed and pointed to his scar. "She sure did. But when did the course of True Love ever run smooth?"

"Isn't that the truth…" Killian muttered, deciding to go down below deck and give them some time to themselves.

"She challenges me and yet completes me at the same time," David continued to explain, clearly trying to ignore Killian's remark.

"Unfortunately, that sounds awfully familiar…" Emma sighed quietly, watching the pirates retreating form.

"So, you're sure he's your True Love? Captain Hook?" he asked after making sure the man in question was out of earshot.

"I don't know what other explanation there is. I'm just trying not to rule anything out at this stage. One things for sure though, I think him being my True Love would be one of the only things right now that actually does make sense."

"Why's that?"

"He's the only one that seems as messed up as I am."

" _Ahoy up there!"_

David and Emma spun around to look overboard back at the docks so fast they almost gave themselves whiplash.

Standing there was a man in leathers leaning back on a motorbike that had a large wooden box strapped to it, wearing an incredibly smug smile on his face. More importantly, however, he was staring up at them as if they were clearly visible.

As in, clearly visible and not standing on an _invisible_ pirate ship.

"Is the good Captain home?" the man asked again, the smirk still not leaving his face.

"Depends on who's asking," David replied with a scowl, clearly not wanting to trust the newcomer who clearly had a limp as he came hobbling over towards the steps to climb aboard.

"You could say I'm a fan of his work."

"I find that hard to believe." Killian came strolling out onto the deck, eyes transfixed on the other leather wearing man aboard his ship without permission. "Who the bloody hell are you?"

"I'm the man who's ass you managed to save by bringing Emma back to Storybrooke and making her believe."

"Whoa…what?!" Emma spluttered aghast. "Who the hell are you?!"  
"An old friend," he smiled. "It's good to see you, Emma."

"Yeah, I can't say I return the sentiment seeing as I have no idea who you are."

"You must know by now that not everything is as black and white as you once believed. Just try your best to be open minded and things will start making sense soon enough," he said cryptically. "You may be a believer, but are you an acceptor?"

"What does that even mean?!"

"You may believe in magic and curses and in your past, but you need to come to terms with it. You need to accept it; you need to accept who you are."

"You sure are an ambiguous bastard," Killian growled, stepping closer to the man with his hook held out threateningly. "I suggest you start being a lot less mysterious and more cooperative before I'm forced to spill your guts all over the deck."

"Ew gross…" Emma wrinkled her nose at the thought and stepped forwards, grabbing hold of Killian's hook and lowering it before he ended up injuring himself or anybody else. "I don't fancy watching you turn a man inside-out thanks—even if he is being…difficult."

"Swan, he could be dangerous!" Killian insisted, raising his arm again, doing his best to shove her off him.

"What? With that dodgy leg—no offence," she insisted, turning to give the newcomer a tight-lipped smile.

"None taken," he responded with a shrug, self-consciously trying to make it less obvious that he was injured and leaning more on his bad leg with a wince of pain.

"I don't think he's going to hurt us, are you?" David asked, also stepping forwards so that he was next to the other two again, not wanting to let Hook get any closer to Emma than was necessary.

"Of course I'm not here to hurt you. Like I said, I'm here to say, 'thank you' to Hook. If you hadn't been able to convince Emma to believe, it would have had really dangerous circumstances."

"Like what?" Emma replied in a low voice that was almost a growl, fed up of him talking around in circles and avoiding the important stuff.

"Well, I, for one, would be in a pretty tough situation—and I still might be actually if you don't hurry up and break the curse as soon as possible."

"What do you know about the curse?" David asked in confusion. "Everyone else in town has lost their memories."

"Oh, I'm not from Storybrooke," he answered quickly with a smile before turning to walk back off the ship. "Let me know when you've figured out who I am. Then we can talk."

He mounted his bike, checked the box was still securely strapped onto the back, turned on the ignition and then he was gone without another word.

"Okay, can this day possibly get any weirder…" Emma grumbled under her breath, almost afraid to jinx it in case the next thing to happen would be that Captain Jack Sparrow would appear from out of nowhere and challenge Killian to a duel to the death for his beloved recently reacquainted ship. "I don't know if I could bear anymore surprises."

"Famous last words, if ever I heard any," Killian replied with a stony expression on his face. "Don't tempt fate, Swan. It can be a dangerous thing."

"It's not fate I'm worried about messing with. Fate has already long been screwing with me and my life. A magical curse, however? That's fairly new and so far, that has been pretty destructive all on its own without me assisting it," she said with a sigh, turning her back on the two men and heading back towards the dock.

"Where are you going?" David called after her as she jumped the last few steps back down to the wooden platform.

"To see just how far I can push my fate," she replied without turning around to face her father or Killian. She didn't need to see their faces to know they were both sharing a look of concern as she disappeared from view.

* * *

"Hello?" Emma called as she walked into the shop with the sign 'Mr Gold Pawnbroker and Antiques Dealer' hanging over the front door. It was just around 5pm in the evening and she wasn't sure if the small shop would still be open at this time of night, due to Storybrooke being a very quiet town; but sure enough, the 'open' sign faced her as she pushed the door open.

The inside of the deserted shop was weirdly terrifying, full of the strangest selection of goods such as two wooden dolls, swords, clocks, a windmill garden ornament and then the item Emma found herself stood in front of, her fingers itching just to reach out and touch: a glass unicorn mobile.

She was barely milometers away from touching the nearest blue dangling unicorn before she suddenly felt the presence of somebody else in the shop and had to do everything possible to prevent herself from visibly jumping in surprise at the intrusion.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so," she replied with a shrug, turning to face Mr Gold who seemed to have almost magically appeared in front of the cash register as if he'd been there the whole time.

"I take it you've come to a decision about the house?" he inquired with a small smile that Emma couldn't quite decipher.

"Yeah, we'd like to accept your offer. It's the perfect place for us," she replied to him, giving him a smile of her own.

"That really is good news. Is tomorrow a good day for me to come around so you can sign the official documents?"

"Sure, tomorrow works for us."

"Wonderful. Have you told your boy yet that you intend to stay in town?" he pried suddenly, a strange satisfied look filtering across his face.

"Not yet, no. But I will."

Gold nodded understandingly. "You'll have to be wary of Ms Mills though, Miss Swan. There's more to her than meets the eye."

"Believe me, I'm more than aware," she replied without even thinking about what she was saying before it was too late.

The look Gold gave her afterwards was more than enough evidence to tell her that not only did he know about the curse, he was awake from it and he now knew that she too was also aware of what was going on.

Emma was about to speak again when the door to the shop was thrown open furiously and Regina came storming into the shop, missing Emma completely as she stormed past her and straight up to Gold at the counter.

"You knew!"

"Knew what exactly?" Gold replied, putting on a confused face that clearly neither of the women in the room bought as innocent.

"The child that you located for me in Phoenix, his mother was found in the woods outside of Storybrooke twenty-eight years ago!" Regina snapped, furiously slamming her hands down on the counter.

"What a startling coincidence," Gold replied trying to look shocked and failing miserably.

"That's one way of putting it," Emma announced, stepping out into sight.

"What is she doing here?!" Regina almost growled, taking one step towards Emma.

"Nice to see you too, Madam Mayor."

"How was your morning with Henry?" she said calmly after a second to compose herself, even managing a very strained smile.

Emma was stunned to silence at her sudden personality change and didn't even know where to start to reply to the woman who had raised her son.

"That's right, I know everything," Regina carried on, almost smug. "But relax. I don't mind."

"You don't?" Emma replied, not hiding her shock at the Mayor's words, not being able to resist giving her own non-genuine smile in return that seemed more intrigued than anything else.

"No, because you no longer worry me, Miss Swan."

"Oh really?" Emma couldn't help but interrupt, incredulous that she would make such a statement after her reaction to seeing her mere moments before.

"You see, I did a little digging into who you are," Regina carried on, ignoring Emma's little outburst as if it never happened. "Most of what I found out was quite soothing. It all comes down to the number seven."

"Seven?" Emma repeated questioningly.

"It's the number of addresses you've had in the last decade. Your longest stint anywhere was two years. Really, what did you enjoy so much about Tallahassee?"

"If you were wondering, I did find a place here in town," Emma found herself snapping in retaliation, the mere mention of Tallahassee making her stomach turn and a deep repressed panic set in.

"Oh really? And who would offer you and your 'boyfriend' a property after being in the town less than a week?" Regina responded sceptically, putting particular emphasis on the word 'boyfriend' since she obviously knew _exactly_ who the leather clad man was.

"That would be me," Gold announced suddenly, reminding both women of his presence as he stood and watched them both with a small smug smile on his face.

"You? You offered them a house?" Regina growled angrily at the man.

"Yes, I did. It's nice to see some new faces in town. Don't you think Madam Mayor?" he replied, throwing Emma two spare sets of keys. "I took the liberty of getting your boyfriend and brother each a set of keys too. Don't forget I'll be around tomorrow for the paperwork."

"Thanks. See you tomorrow," Emma nodded back at him before turning to leave before he called after her.

"Ms Swan? The Unicorn mobile. It's yours. Take it as a…house warming present," he said slowly with a sly smile and if it would have been possible, Regina would have had smoke pouring out her ears and nostrils in fury.

Emma smiled back at him and unhooked the mobile from the hook carefully. "Thank you, it'll look great in the kitchen."

With one final glance at Regina, she turned and left the shop, not looking behind her as the door swung shut.

* * *

Emma dropped into Granny's diner on the way back from Gold's shop and went in search of the elderly woman to let her know that they would be checking out that evening, but seemed to find herself being smuggled into a booth with a hot cocoa in front of her before she could even deliver her news.

Ruby was obviously trying to repress a laugh at Emma's shocked and almost affronted expression as she was handed the mug and told that it was on the house.

"What is it with the people in this town sending me cocoa?"

"It's from the Sheriff. He said you needed bribing every time you come in."

Clearly Graham was desperate for a deputy and had resulted in trying to buy her favour.

"Oh, well thanks Ruby. Is Granny here anywhere?" she said with a shrug, deciding she'd be crazy to turn down free things when they tasted as good as Granny's hot cocoa did.

"Yeah, she's just out back. Do you want me to fetch her?" the scantily clad girl replied, gesturing to the kitchen doors.

"No need, just tell her we'll be around later to settle the bill and check out. We've found a more permanent place to stay in town."

"So, you're staying? That's great! I'll go pass the message onto Granny." And with a smile she was off.

Emma sighed to herself and sat back in her chair, happy to have the time to herself to relax. She had barely had five minutes to herself ever since Killian had his hook pressed to her neck back in her kitchen in Boston.

For a person who had been pretty much alone their whole life, suddenly not being able to find time to be alone in her own thoughts was very strange but less overwhelming than she would have believed it to be. It felt natural to have surrounded herself with these people, almost as if something deep down inside of her knew that she'd found her home.

This was the first time she'd ever been around people she felt like she could trust ever since the whole incident back when she was seventeen and stupidly in love with a man who she should have realised immediately was no good for her. Slowly but surely her walls were coming down.

Killian was right— she'd never be alone again now she'd found her family, she didn't have to worry anymore.

Well, she did have things to worry about, but that wasn't one of them.

Regina was a big worry, and so was this damned curse that nobody had any idea how to break.

One thing was for sure, they had a lot of work to do. Hopefully Henry had a few more ideas than she did though, because she had no clue how to move forward and approach the situation.

Suddenly the doorbell rang to signal that somebody had entered the diner and then she looked up to find that 'somebody' sliding in her booth with her.

"Mind if I sit here?"

"Um, no, of course not."

Mary-Margaret smiled and shrugged off her coat and ordered her 'usual' from Ruby as she walked past. A few minutes later a hot cocoa exactly the same as Emma's was placed in front of her, cinnamon and all.

"You like cinnamon on your cocoa?"

"Oh, yeah. It's always been my favourite."

"Mine too."

Emma couldn't help but feel incredibly nervous around the school teacher—knowing that she was her mother made everything incredibly confusing as it was ever clearer just how powerful the curse was, as Mary Margaret didn't even look like she suspected a little bit that the two of them were related.

"Sorry Henry was late to school this morning, he snuck away from his Mom to come and see me," Emma found herself saying, desperately trying to make some form of conversation with the woman who gave birth to her, but didn't remember a second of it.

"Don't worry about it," Mary Margaret smiled, "it's good to see him smiling again."

"Did my brother, David come and say hello when he dropped him off?" she asked, trying to pry for information on how the meeting had gone between the two, as David hadn't said an awful lot himself when he returned later that morning.

Much to Emma's delight a delicate blush appeared across the other woman's cheeks as she looked down at her cup and took a long sip at the mention of David, before replying.

"Yes, he did. I didn't realise you had family in town."

"Neither did I, until I found him in the hospital the other night. He's been in a coma for years," Emma explained, trying to keep the conversation about David.

She felt like she was playing matchmaker for her own parents. She was basically her dad's wing-woman at that moment and the thought of that almost made her choke on the sip of her cocoa she'd taken a second before. How weird could things get before she just lost the plot?

"It's wonderful that you two found each other again after all this time," Mary Margaret smiled. "So, does this mean you're staying in town permanently now?"

"Yeah, actually, me, David and Killian just found ourselves a place in town."

"That's wonderful! It'll be so good for Henry to have his birth mother around on a permanent basis!"

"It may be good for Henry, but Regina doesn't seem very happy that I'm sticking around," she said with a dry laugh.

"She'll come around eventually, she'll realise it's the best thing for Henry, you'll see," the dark-haired woman declared with a happy smile that basically made her entire face shine. There was no denying that this woman was Snow White, even if she was cursed and had no idea of her true identity.

"Let's hope so, but I seriously doubt it." Emma finished her cocoa and stood up out of the booth. "It was nice talking to you."

"You too, Emma. See you soon!" Mary Margaret replied enthusiastically.

"I'd better get back to the boys before they burn our new house to the ground before we've even moved in properly."

"Just be careful not to speed on your way home," Mary Margaret joked with a laugh. "Don't go giving Regina any more excuses to try and get you to leave!"  
"Why would me getting a speeding ticket affect her in any way?" Emma asked, confused. "Wouldn't it just be down to the Sheriff?"

"Ms Mills basically owns the police force in town, the Sheriff is wrapped around her little finger, just like everybody else is," she explained with a sigh. "Graham is lovely, but he can't do anything without her knowing."

"He offered me a position as his deputy," Emma realised slowly, "surely Regina wouldn't have given him permission to do that?"

"No, definitely not if she wants you out of town," Mary Margaret agreed. "It sounds like Graham is really sticking his neck out for you and taking a massive risk doing so."

"Yeah…I guess it does…look I really have to go, but I'll see you around?" Emma said, suddenly in a rush that had nothing to do with her father and a pirate being left on their own together for a long period of time.

Emma heard Mary Margaret call after her with a wave saying goodbye, but she was already half way out the door, her phone in her hand and a number half way dialled. She pressed enter and immediately it began to ring before a male voice answered on the other side just as she reached her car.

 _"Hello?"_

"Graham, it's Emma," she replied immediately. "I was thinking… is that deputy job still open?"

 _"Absolutely,"_ he replied enthusiastically.

"Then I'm in," Emma smiled to herself. This was going to get interesting pretty fast. "Regina gonna be okay with this?"

 _"I don't care. It's my department."_

 _What utter bullshit_ , Emma found herself thinking, but she refrained from commenting.

" _I'll see you Monday morning,"_ Graham carried on, completely unaware of Emma's thoughts.

"I'll see ya." Emma grinned, hanging up the call before she wasn't able to hold in her laughter any longer.

She put her phone back in her pocket and climbed in the car.

 _Don't challenge me, your majesty; you may be able to throw fireballs, but this time, you're going to be the one getting burnt._

* * *

A few hours later, Emma, Killian and David had successfully moved everything from their room at Granny's into their new house, had checked out, had dinner and were finally settled in the living room with the television on.

Emma had obviously watched TV before, but David and Killian had not and the two of them were completely mesmerised by the 'magic picture box', as they had named it. They'd been utterly captivated by the news, of all things, and both were sat on the edge of their seats, trying to get as close to the screen as possible.

At one stage Emma had actually been forced to grab hold of Killian by the scuff of his jacket before he genuinely fell off the sofa head first.

Just as the weather forecast was being read out by a man with a neon pink tie, the doorbell rang. After taking one look at how exhausted Emma looked and realising getting her to move anywhere at any time soon was highly unlikely, David stood up to go and answer it.

When he didn't come back after a few minutes, Killian stood up to look out the window to see if he was anywhere to be seen and consequently spotted both David and Mary Margaret's retreating figures walking together along the path down to the beach.

"I don't think you father will be back for some time, love. He appears to have a rendezvous with a princess," Killian said with a smirk as he put the curtain back, after establishing David's whereabouts.

"Wait, really?" Emma asked, amazed that the other woman had been forward enough to find their new address and come around later the same day.

"I suppose that true love really knows no boundaries," Killian replied with a shrug, moving to sit back down on the sofa next to Emma, a lot closer to her this time, however, seeing as her overprotective father was no longer in the room with them ready to launch heavy objects at him should he misbehave.

"Do you really think she can fall for him again? Never mind this fast! She's technically a different person, don't you think she'd want something different with this new alter ego?" Emma asked, still shocked that she seemed witness to literally what must have been love at first sight.

"He's her True Love, regardless of who she is in this world. They will always find each other, no matter what," Killian replied, clearly trying to do his best to not make eye contact with the blonde sat next to him

"You seem to know a hell of a lot about True Love for a pirate," Emma said, turning to look at him closely, almost as if she couldn't believe how romantic he actually was—definitely not the fierce, bloodthirsty Captain he had a reputation for being.

"I have been in love once, you know. I thought it was True Love at the time, but now I know it couldn't possibly have been," he admitted, still refusing to make eye contact.

"The woman your tattoo is after? Milah?" she asked, deciding that she wanted to know more about this man and she wanted to know his past as best as she could, all of the many decades of it.

"Yes," he replied slowly. "She was taken from me still very early into our time together by her husband."

"Gold?"

"The Dark One…Rumpelstiltskin."

"The Crocodile, right? Man, Disney got it so wrong…"

"Disney?"

"Never mind, I'll show you another time."

"Anyway…" Killian carried on explaining, "her husband didn't approve of her leaving both he and their son to run away and live a sordid life at sea with a pirate and his crew, as the only woman on-board."

"When you put it like that I can kind of see why he was pissed off," Emma said after a second, pulling an apologetic face at Killian. "She just left? No goodbye or anything? Not even to the kid?"

"No. According to the crocodile, the boy grew up believing she'd died. He, himself, believed she'd been abducted against her will."

"Jeez…that's rough. Poor kid, bet that scarred him for life. Well, that and having a really dark evil wizard lizard guy as his dad…"

"Milah always wanted to go back for Baelfire, but the time was never right…in the end we were too late. He ripped out her heart and crushed it in front of me."

"Wow, I'm sorry…that's…that's really dark…"

"I suppose that'll be why he's called 'The Dark One' then."

"I guess so…it's just hard to believe, you know? Mr Gold just seems so refined and well mannered. I guess whatever this curse did to him was quite thorough."

"No, not at all," Killian said immediately without even pausing for thought. 'He's awake."

"I had kind of suspected that when I spoke to him earlier…I wanted to ask him, but didn't want to risk it in case I was wrong," she explained, thinking back to the weird situation she'd been in earlier in a room with both the Dark One and the Evil Queen.

"He's most definitely aware of everything. I know because I actually went to see him the other day," he admitted, looking down at his hook and stabbing each of his fingertips on his good hand on the sharp end, one by one, in a way that was probably meant to seem absentminded, but only succeeding as coming across as apprehensive.

"You did what?! Do you have a death wish or something?! If he really is awake and aware of what's happening that means he also knows exactly who you are; he could have killed you!" Emma found herself shouting, jumping to her feet and starting to pace nervously around the living room.

"He's without his magic here though, Swan. He's no more dangerous than a normal man," he explained, trying to calm her down. "And anyways, we reached an agreement of sorts."

That stopped her pacing immediately.

"What kind of agreement? Please tell me you didn't make a deal with him because they're dangerous, Killian! Have you even read the book?!" she yelled, stopping right in front of him so he was forced to look up to make eye contact.

"I've lived the book, love," he tried to remind her gently to calm her down, "I knew what I was doing. And anyways, it wasn't a difficult deal to make as it was something that I was already planning on doing mostly, regardless."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Help you break the curse," he replied, but Emma could tell that he was only telling her half the truth.

"Okay, yet another person who is urgently wanting the curse to end…what was the other half of your deal. What else did you promise to do?"

"I have to help him find his son."

"Oh…why can't he find him?" she replied in confusion, sitting down on the chair opposite him so she could try and keep calm.

"Because he can't leave town, nobody can other than you, me, Henry and possibly that strange man we saw earlier. His son is somewhere in this world outside Storybrooke, but he doesn't know where yet. I made a deal that if I help you break the curse and find his son, he'll not harm you or your boy at any point in the future, regardless of the situation and whether it would be beneficial for him to do so. You're both safe."

Emma was stunned into silence and it took her a good few minutes to fully process the gravity of the situation and what Killian had said.

"You gave up your revenge for me?"

"Aye. I needed to make sure you and your boy would always be safe. I can't have you taken from me too, Emma…it wasn't a completely selfless decision," he admitted, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"I thought your revenge was the most important thing in the world?" she whispered back, still partially in shock.

"It was... I never thought I'd be capable of letting go of my first love, my Milah. To believe that I could find someone else. That is until I met you. This world is dangerous, the Evil Queen is dangerous—I needed to know that there was someone that would be able to give you protection if I should ever fail. I hate the crocodile, but I know he's powerful and he stands by his deals. I won't lose you, Emma," he said fiercely, looking at her with so much emotion her breath was taken from her and she didn't know what to say.

"You barely know me…but you sacrificed your revenge to protect me and my son? I'm not worth it, Killian… I'm damaged goods," she replied quietly, sinking back into the armchair and hugging her knees up to her chest with a sigh, suddenly unable to look at him and address the situation.

"And you don't think I'm damaged goods too?" he shot back incredulously, holding up his hook and looking between her and it disbelievingly. "You and I, love…we're right for each other—good for each other. You see that, don't you?"

"I do, but it's complicated…I'm complicated. In case you hadn't noticed, I have walls up higher than I can see over that are also impossible for others to get through either. I don't…like talking about feelings and stuff," she admitted, clearly feeling really out of her depth but suddenly filled with the urge to try and let him in, let him understand.

"It's a good job I'm quite skilled at climbing then," he said with a wink and a smirk, clearly trying to lighten the mood with a joke, but only succeeding in receiving a dry look from Emma. "If you had truly been a more traditional Princess in a castle back in the Enchanted Forest, I'd have been very competent at scaling the height of your ivory tower to be by your side noon and night, milady."

"What makes you think we'd have been well suited still if I had grown up in the way my parents wanted?" she questioned, an eyebrow raised, silently glad however for the topic change. "Wouldn't the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming be set to marry a Prince or something?"

"Don't forget what I said about your parents falling in love still in this realm, we'd find each other in every world too; True Love knows no bounds."

There. One of them had directly addressed the truth and the elephant in the room and had actually spoken the words out loud instead of edging around them..

So, naturally, Emma did the thing she was best at and shut down by making a dry and witty comeback.

"I knew I should have had more damned security measures against strange men in my apartment… one break in and suddenly I'm stuck with you permanently in any world or realm for the rest of time."

Killian laughed and winked at her again roguishly. "Regretting not hitting me any harder with that magic torch yet?"

"You mean my lamp?"

"I don't bloody know what the damned thing is called."

"Don't worry, I'll turn you into a modern man yet, just you watch," she laughed and rolled her eyes, standing up from the armchair and moving to sit next to him on the sofa again, allowing her head to drop down to his shoulder and letting out a small sigh of contentment as she felt Killian's arm wrap around her and his hand move into her hair.

Killian smiled a genuine smile at the happy noises coming from Emma and held her close against him, reluctant to ever let her go. They clearly still had a very long way to go in order to fully understand and adjust to the situation they had found themselves in, but it was evident that Emma had started to warm up towards him and trust him—which was the most important thing, as he knew how hard trusting people was for her.

Just one step at a time.

She knew how he felt and she would decide on her own feelings in time. He certainly wasn't about to push and rush her into anything, not that she would allow him to bully her into anything anyway.

She was as stubborn as an ox and definitely not a woman to mess with, and that made her all the more attractive to him.

He had spent a large majority of his life surrounded by women that would do anything to please him, even if it meant degrading and shredding themselves of any dignity they had remaining; Emma was not like that at all. She was strong, independent, opinionated and confident—every part the royal she claimed not to be.

She may not be a typical fairy-tale Princess, but she would make a fierce Queen one day, once this whole mess with the curse was over, and he hoped he would still be by her side throughout it all to see it first-hand.

* * *

The pair of them both fell asleep on the sofa together with the television blaring out in the background and were still there when David arrived home later. He debated poking Hook with the remote to wake him up after using it to switch the magic box off, but after realising how content and relaxed Emma finally looked after a stressful day, he decided to just let them be.

So, he grabbed a fluffy blanket and threw it over them both so they wouldn't get cold in the night, before making his way to bed, leaving the Princess and the Pirate to dream together.


	6. Chapter 6

"What is _she_ doing here?!"

"Well good morning to you too, Madam Mayor," Emma smiled sarcastically, lifting her head out of some paperwork she'd been filling out before being interrupted by Regina barging into the station, clearly not expecting to see her there.

"She's my new deputy," Graham quickly explained, walking around to the desk that Emma was sat at and passing her a mug of hot chocolate.

"They say the Mayor's always the last to know," Regina said dryly, clearly trying her best to keep an impassive facial expression.

"It's in my budget."

"Indeed."

Emma looked between the Sheriff and the Mayor, quietly sipping her cocoa leisurely as if she were watching a game of tennis. She realised there was more to this conversation than a display of power, however she couldn't quite put her finger on what.

"Miss Swan, a word outside."

"Regina, I don't think—"

"It's alright, Graham," Emma interrupted, moving to stand, facing the other woman, "I'll follow you out."

Regina turned immediately on her heels and marched outside, letting the door slam behind her. Emma sighed at her childish display and after sending Graham a fed-up look, she walked after the mayor.

"What can I do for you, Regina?" she sighed, after making sure to close the heavy door properly so that Graham wouldn't overhear this conversation, which was almost sure to go nasty pretty quickly.

"That's hardly the proper way to address a Queen, now is it?"

It was almost the air turned ice cold as both women stared straight at each other, virtually challengingly to see who would look away first. If Regina was expecting Emma to be shocked at her statement, she didn't show it, she simply looked back at the blonde with a small smug smile tugging on the corners of her lips.

"I'll address the woman who ruined my life and the lives of everybody else in this town however I damn please," Emma retaliated fearlessly, her hands balling into fists by her sides.

Regina grinned shamelessly and laughed quietly. "I see somebody has already fallen into their hero role."

"I'm no hero, but that won't stop me breaking your stupid curse," she replied with a self-assured smile of her own.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Miss Swan," Regina announced in a threatening tone, her smirk still very much present, however. "If you break my curse, I'll do everything in my power to make sure you never see Henry ever again."

"You don't have the power to do that," Emma declared confidently, raising one eyebrow challengingly.

"Believe me, Swan, you have no idea what I have the power to do," she spat, her smile vanishing completely at the questioning of her abilities.

"And believe me, _Your Majesty,"_ Emma started, leaning towards the evil woman, so close that their noses were almost touching. "You have no idea what _I_ have the power to do."

* * *

"Hi Emma!" Henry grinned as she opened the front door to find him stood there with his arms full of various carrier bags.

"Hey kid…what've you got there?" she asked, making room so he could squeeze past her through the doorway into the house.

"I bought my Xbox. Thought maybe you, Killian and Grandpa would like to play?" he explained whilst looking around the still quite empty house. "Um…did you guys have any plans for redecorating?"

"Why? What's wrong with the way things are?" Emma replied, looking around in a similar way to the way Henry just had, in case she'd missed a hole in one of the walls or some peeling wallpaper.

"Nothing, it just doesn't seem like you guys have properly moved in yet, that's all," he replied with a shrug.

"Well David and Killian don't have an awful lot of stuff and mine is currently being shipped over here by an agency from my old place," Emma tried to defend. "Give it a couple of days."

"Sure, okay," he smiled, carrying on into the living room where David was sat watching the sports channel on the TV. "Hey Grampa!"

"Hey champ! How are you doing today?" David replied with a wide smile, reaching for the tv remote so he could turn the volume down a bit.

"I'm great!" he beamed before putting down the bags and starting to attach his console up to the tv.

"Would you like anything to drink or eat, kid?" Emma asked, moving to lean on the back of the couch near David.

"No thanks, I just had lunch with my Mom," he said, disappearing around behind the back of the television to attach the necessary cables there.

"Okay, no problem," she managed to reply, doing her best not to give away how much it bothered her that Henry seemed to have a semi-normal thing going on with the Evil Queen as his Mother. How could Regina go from threatening her and generally being a nasty piece of work one minute, to having a lunch-date at Granny's with Henry the next, all within the space of an hour?

"If you're offering to make fresh beverages, love, I'd simply adore a coffee," Killian announced from the doorway, a grin firmly set on his face.

"Sorry, Jones, kitchen's that way. I'm not one of your skivvies on your ship," she shot back with a smile, causing David to laugh loudly.

"Was worth a try," he answered with a flirtatious wink, not seeming to be at the least bit bothered by David's reaction.

"You're becoming far too addicted to caffeine anyway," Emma commented flippantly, moving to sit down on one of the squishy armchairs.

"I simply have an appreciation for the finer things in life—" he smirked, sitting on the arm of the chair next to Emma so he could whisper in her ear, "—which is clearly the reason for my soul mate being a Princess."

"Soul mate or not, buddy, I'm still not making you a coffee," Emma replied after a second to try and compose an answer that didn't consist of her swearing colourfully or punching the smug pirate in the face. "And I make my own choices when it comes to my love life; just because you're my soul mate does not mean you get this any easier than any normal guy would."

"Believe me, love, I'm more than aware of that," he replied with what actually appeared to be a genuine smile. "I wasn't kidding before when I said that I like a challenge."

Emma was about to reply when Henry whooped in excitement as his game flickered onto the tv screen and he stood up so he could go and sit next to David and pass him a controller.

"Come on, Killian, you need to play too!" he beamed, holding out another controller.

Killian hauled himself to his feet, took the controller out of Henry's hands and squeezed himself down on the couch, giving the boy a teasing shove onto David's lap so there was more room for him.

"Is there something wrong with the other chair, Hook?" the Prince questioned with a sigh as Henry laughed and shoved back against the pirate.

"Other than the fact that it would mean I would be even further away from you and your sunny disposition? Nothing at all," Killian replied with a wink causing both David and Emma to sigh exasperatedly. "Now, lad, how does this contraption work?"

* * *

"Bloody hell!" Killian groaned, throwing down the controller as Emma beat him for the third time in a row.

"What's wrong, Hook? Can't handle the heat?" Emma laughed, smugly, raising an eyebrow not dissimilar to the way that the man in question was becoming notorious for.

"They clearly didn't design these things for people like me!" he tried to defend, lifting up his hook as evidence.

"You're better with that hook than most men are with two hands, so don't let me hear you whinging about being disadvantaged!"

"Alas love, you're right," he replied immediately, a sexualised smirk flashing across his face in an instant, "I _am_ better with my hook than most men are with two hands, and in more than one way, if you catch my drift."

"That's disgusting…" David muttered under his breath, moving to stand and leave the room without another word, almost as if he was having to try very hard not to verbalise any other kind of remark.

"I'm confused…what are you talking about?" Henry replied innocently, looking between Emma and Killian with big eyes from his place next to Killian on the couch.

"Nothing, kid," Emma said quickly, also moving to stand so as she could turn off the television, thankfully giving her a reason to escape Killian's piercing gaze.

"Your Mother is right, Henry. But I'm sure we'll breach the topic when you're a tad older than you are now," Hook interjected, ruffling his hair good-naturedly.

"I'm not a kid, you know," Henry replied dejectedly, shrugging Killian's hand off.

"I know you're not," Emma sighed, moving to crouch down in front of him on the floor so he couldn't look away from her. "But Henry, if your Mom found out we'd talked about…um, ' _adult'_ stuff with you she'd be on the warpath even more than she already is now."

"I don't care what she thinks though," he insisted adamantly. "There's things that I know about that she doesn't know that I know."

"Yeah, I know, like the curse and the whole Evil Queen thing," Emma shot back, moving to rise to her feet again. "But this is different."

"No, I didn't just mean the whole Operation Cobra thing!" he protested, grabbing Emma's arm to stop her from moving too far away.

Emma shot Killian a confused look which he returned and they both then slowly turned back to the ten-year-old boy.

"What do you mean then, lad?" Killian finally asked.

"I meant that I know that she's running secret missions with Sheriff Humbert! She's always going off to meet him in secret looking all fancy and sometimes he comes around to our house at night when they both think I'm asleep!"

* * *

"I'm going to fucking murder her!"

"Come on, love, let's just try and stay calm h—"

"You of all people don't get to tell me to calm down! Mr _I-Held-A-Grudge-For-Over-A-Century_!"

"It was closer to being two centuries actually—"

"That is not the point, Killian!"

"Swan, what good will getting blind with rage do anybody? I've been there, and look where it got me."

Emma finally stopped pacing around the kitchen and took a few calming breaths before letting out a growl and knocking three boxes of cereal off the table in frustration. "She's screwing around with the town Sheriff in the house with Henry down the hall! How is that responsible behaviour for a Mother?!"

"It's not, but there's not an awful lot we can do about it currently," he tried to sooth her, grateful that David had offered to walk Henry back home when he did, before Emma's temper made an appearance with him in the room.

"God, that'll be why Regina showed up at the station this morning! If I hadn't been there…she probably had plans to—"

"For the love of god, do not finish that sentence," Killian interrupted with a shudder. "Humbert is nothing more than the Queen's lapdog – in this realm and back in the Enchanted Forest – and I don't need to think about him fumbling awkwardly in a sexual manner trying to please her."

"What do you mean he's her lapdog back in the Enchanted Forest too? Just who is Graham in the book?" she asked suddenly, momentarily distracted from the topic at hand.

"I believe he is referred to as being the Huntsman?"

"He saved Snow White's life and lost his heart because of it…" Emma said quietly, turning away from Killian and looking out the window that overlooked the sea. "Without him, I wouldn't even exist."

"Precisely," Killian replied with a nod, following her gaze outside. "He has been without his heart now for many many years, who knows what that does to a man and how it affects his decisions."

Both of them were silent for a few moments before Emma laughed quietly to herself in a way that almost sounded bitter.

"I used to wish I could rip my heart out to protect myself from pain. Even now things still feel just as fresh as they did however many years ago. I mean, what's the point of even having a heart if its broken?"

Killian took a few small strides so that he was stood right behind her, as close as he could possibly have been without actually touching her. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm glad to hear that."

"You're glad to hear I got my heart broken?" Emma repeated back to him in disbelief, more than a little hurt at his initial comment. She turned around to look at him before he could respond again and was thrown off by his close proximity. She immediately wanted to take a step back, but something inside her prevented her feet from moving even an inch away, forcing her to stay where she was.

Killian's gaze was unwavering and Emma could physically see the deep emotion he felt being reflected out at her as she looked into his eyes before he even spoke. "If it can be broken, it means it still works."

"I don't know about that…it's been broken for over ten years now," she replied without even really thinking about the confession she was willingly supplying that she'd held as a secret now from everyone for so long.

"Ten years…Henry's father?" Killian asked, already knowing the answer after being able to instantly connect the pieces of the puzzle that she had given.

She thought about denying it, even though he already knew the truth, but she realised that this man would stop at nothing until he'd knocked down all her walls and by denying him an answer here, she was only prolonging the conversation that she almost wanted to just get over and done with as soon as possible so she could move on and try and forget.

"Yeah, his name was Neal and he was an asshole."

"I'm sorry to hear that, love," he said genuinely, reaching out to hold her hand. "You needn't tell me anymore than that now if you don't wish to. I won't force you. But if you ever want to talk about it, you know where to find me."

She managed a small smile in response and raised an eyebrow. "In order to find you, you would have to leave me alone first, and you've already made it very clear that you don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon."

"Right you are, love. Good luck getting rid of me!" he grinned good-naturedly.

"You're not _so_ bad…at least when you're not being a douchebag, that is."

"I do not know what a 'douche-bag' is, but I will always endeavour not to be one, if that is what you desire."

* * *

Later that evening, Emma found herself sat in her still rather empty bedroom, wishing more than anything that she'd had the sense to grab her laptop when she left Boston however many days ago it was now. Her mind was full of speculation and theories and she was desperate to find a way to write them down, but she didn't even have so much as a pen and paper at the new house yet.

She had suddenly found herself alone in the house when David had shuffled out the door like a naughty teenager with a picnic basket and a quick smile followed by a "I'll be back later!", and Killian had decided to go and spend a few hours checking up on the Jolly Roger.

She had secretly been a little excited for the alone time and had decided to spend the evening trying to have some time for herself. So far, in order to try and relax, she had taken a long soak in the tub, had about four cups of cocoa and had managed to watch about two hours' worth of junk tv before she'd gotten restless.

It wasn't comfortable being alone anymore, and that was more than a little concerning to say the least.

Emma had _always_ been by herself, a team of one, so to now be reliant on people was rather terrifying, but knowing that she had the option to lean on someone if she needed was like a massive weight off of her shoulders.

It was about half past ten when the sound of the front door opening disrupted her from her restlessness, so she happily left her room and sought out who had returned and was not completely surprised to see the great Captain Hook completely soaked to the skin and shivering violently in the hallway, his fingers unable to undo the fastenings on his jacket due to them being completely numb in the cold.

"Is it raining outside by any chance?" Emma found herself asking, having to try very hard not to laugh at the frustrated look on his face.

"It's like a bloody storm out there, Swan! I'm fortunate not to have blown away in the gale!" he groaned, giving up on his jacket for a moment and kicking off his boots instead.

"Come here, let me help," she demanded, stepping closer to him so she could help him yank off his jacket and pull him further inside the house where it was warm.

"I'm going to go and get changed into some dry clothes," he muttered grumpily, turning on his heels and squelching upstairs to his room.

Emma rolled her eyes and couldn't help the smile that spread across her face at his attitude, clearly even fairy-tale pirates weren't exempt from a bit of normal man complaining.

By the time Killian resurfaced, he was still shaking, so Emma not so gently shoved him down onto the couch, threw a thick fleece blanket over him and passed him a steaming cup of cocoa.

"Thank you, love," he said appreciatively, taking a sip of his drink before his eyes lit up and a broad smile replaced his pitiful sulk. "Am I imagining it, or does this cocoa have a bit of a kick to it?"  
"I may have added a splash of rum? Thought that might warm you up," she admitted with a wink, grabbing her own spiked drink and sitting next to him, clinking their mugs together. "Cheers."

"You truly are a marvel, Swan," Killian laughed, his mood improving significantly. "Sorry I was absent so long, I was just searching for something on board the Jolly."

"Oh? Did you find what you were looking for?" Emma replied curiously, leaning back into the cushions and getting comfortable, tucking her feet under her butt to keep her toes warm.

"Not yet, but I will."

"May I ask what it is you're searching for?"

"I do believe that is a conversation for another day," he sighed tiredly. "It is not a short tale, and I feel everybody should be present to hear it."

"Oh, okay," she shrugged in reply, letting the room fall into comfortable silence for a moment before speaking again. "I wonder what David's up to, I hope he's not caught out in the storm somewhere."

"I'm sure your Father will be fine," Killian assured her, "I'm sure he'll return any moment now."

Right on cue, the front door was thrown wide open and the muffled sound of two voices talking rapidly in the hallway caused both Emma and Killian to look up at each other in confusion.

"Emma? Hook?" called David from around the corner.

"We're in here," Emma replied, putting her drink down and standing up, realising that this was probably going to be important.

"Where is she?! Where's my daughter?!"

Hook choked on his drink in surprise as all of a sudden a very un-cursed Snow White came barrelling into the room at full speed and launched herself at an incredibly shocked Emma, who was so astounded it took her a few seconds to realise she was probably supposed to contribute to the hug and then slowly put her hands on the other woman's back awkwardly.

David had tears in his eyes as he took the last few steps between the door and his family and wrapped both of the women up in his own embrace, kissing Emma on the crown of her head as Snow sobbed into her shoulder.

"You found us," she wept, clinging onto Emma as if she were afraid she was about to vanish into thin air. "I knew you would, I had faith."

Emma was completely stunned into silence, not sure at all what to say, too shocked to even cry. She had both of her parents holding her for the first time in over twenty-eight years; something she never thought she would be able to experience.

Clearly unsure what to do with himself in this private family moment, Hook silently rose to his feet and made to shuffle awkwardly out of the room before David noticed and reached out to grab his shoulder before he made a clean get away.

"Where do you think you're going? You're a part of this family too, whether I like it or not…"

"David!" Snow scolded, finally releasing Emma so as to turn around and face the pirate that was her daughters True Love. "Killian, you helped bring Emma back to us, we owe you a lifetime's worth of gratitude…thank you for bringing her back to her family!"

Before he had a chance to move out of the way, Snow was hugging him too and clearly his face did nothing to hide his distress and discomfort as it was enough to revive Emma of her shock as she sniggered at his reaction.

David wrapped an arm around Emma and kissed her on the forehead again, clearly trying to muffle his own laughter as the fierce pirate Captain Hook was almost smothered to death by the petite woman.

"How did you do it?" Emma asked her Father. "How did you wake her up?"

"The same way I woke her up the last time she was cursed," he replied with a grin, moving to pry his wife off of Killian, much to his relief.

"True Love's kiss? And it worked?" she said in astonishment, turning to Killian briefly to see if he had recovered from his assault.

"You old devil, Dave! Kissing on the second date!" Killian laughed, slapping the Prince on the back.

"Someone's been watching far too much daytime tv…" Emma murmured under her breath as David pushed Killian's hand away.

"Don't think that this makes us ' _mates'_ now," David grumbled, doing his best attempt to copy Killian's accent, only succeeding in making him laugh even harder.

"Look, Swan! He's blushing!"

Emma did her best to ignore Hook and instead turned to her parents. "So, what, you guys kissed and it was like _wham_ and you had your memories back?"

"Something like that," David laughed at her description.

"We will always find each other," Snow beamed at her husband, moving to give him a kiss that had both Emma and Killian blushing and looking away.

"Well I'm gonna go and make myself another drink…preferably one with more alcohol in it this time…you coming, Jones?" Emma said awkwardly, looking at him with wide eyes that were almost screaming that they were going to have to leave the room before something more scarring transpired in the living room.

"Yes, love, that's a wonderful idea!" he replied, looking grateful for the escape, heading in the direction of the kitchen and they were almost home free before Snow called after them.

"Wait! Emma, we need to talk!"

Emma froze up all over again and felt the panic set in…having her Father around was one thing, but having her Mother there too all felt a bit much.

"I…uh…well, I…I just…I don't wanna talk."

"Don't push her, Snow…" David murmured warningly to his wife, but was almost completely ignored. He'd spend time with Emma already, knew how guarded she was, and being confrontational was not the way to get through to her.

"But I do," Snow continued, disregarding David's suggestion, "okay, a drink can wait, I can't. I mean, you're my _daughter_ , and I wanna talk to you. I know that we have talked…but I didn't know that we were talking and—"

"Look, I just don't want to do this now, okay?" Emma managed to say calmly. "We will talk, soon, but not now. Please just be patient. I have a lot to think about."

"Hold on…did you say that it was True Love's kiss that woke you up, your Majesty?" Killian asked Snow, interrupting Emma's fumbling attempt at a sentence.

"Yes, it was. Why do you ask?" she replied in confusion, looking between everybody else in the room to see if they understood where this was going.

It took her a moment, but all of a sudden Emma knew exactly what Killian was thinking. "Maybe True Love's kiss is the way to break the curse in some way!"

"Precisely, love," Killian nodded, clearly deep in thought as he began pacing around the living room, tapping his hook on his bottom lip as he walked.

"Well, have you guys…you know…" David piped up uncomfortably, looking very much like he didn't want to have to suggest it, but someone had to.

"Yeah, once…" Emma replied with a sigh, "Nothing happened though."

"I don't know about that, love, it turned you into a believer," Killian teased with a smirk.

"Maybe that amongst other things," she protested, really not wanting to have to discuss this for the first time since it happened with her parents in the room to witness it.

"I don't think breaking the curse will be as simple as that," Snow said with a frown. "True Love's kiss may be enough to wake maybe one person at a time, but I don't see how it could wake an entire town."

"Back in the hospital…" Emma almost whispered to herself, eyes wide in shock as the realisation hit her for the first time. "Dad, I kissed you on the cheek right before you woke up…"

"That's right, you did! True Love's kiss doesn't just have to be a romantic thing, it can be any type of love just as long as its powerful enough!" David replied in amazement, clearly thinking out loud. "I don't know how we didn't realise before!"

"Because we didn't realise True Love's kiss would even work here in this realm, it's supposed to be a land without magic," Killian said slowly, moving to stand in front of Emma. He looked right into her eyes with such intensity that Emma was sure that he was about to kiss her, but at the last moment he simply smiled and used his hook to brush her hair over her shoulder, an action he was repeating almost daily now, as if it was becoming a habit.

"What I don't understand is why; if you two are True Love, why the kiss didn't do at least something!" Snow voiced, looking between the two of them. "Are you _absolutely_ sure it's True Love?"

They couldn't help it, both Emma and Killian simultaneously burst out laughing.

"Trust me, it's true enough alright," David grumbled whilst Snow watched her daughter and the pirate almost fall over each other they were so hysterical.

"God, I need a drink," Emma managed to choke out after she'd got a hold on her breathing and within seconds a small hipflask was pressed into her hand. "Thanks."

Killian winked at her as she had a few mouthfuls of rum before passing it back to him. "Don't mention it, love."

"Look, we need a plan to break the curse and save everybody!" Snow insisted, looking at David for support.

"We don't need to do anything right now, let's just sleep on it, okay?" he replied, trying to be diplomatic as it was clear to him that right now what Emma needed was a chance to process everything without her Mother pestering her until she was ready.

"That sounds like a fine plan, mate!" Hook agreed readily.

"We can regroup tomorrow and decide what the next plan of action is then, but right now the best thing we can be doing is hiding the fact that Mary-Margaret is no longer _just_ Mary-Margaret," Emma said looking directly at her Mother. "You need to carry on as if nothing's changed. Right now, we have the advantage and we need it to stay that way if we'll ever be in with a chance of beating her."

"Emma's right," David nodded, reaching out so that he could wrap an arm around his wife. "Regina needs to believe that you're still ' _asleep'_. We can let her see that we're together and that we've found each other, but make her think that it's under her terms and under the curse."

"Then we worry her without really letting her in on the truth!" Snow responded enthusiastically, a wide grin spreading across her face. "Good always wins out in the end, we may not know how yet, but I know we _will_ break this curse!"

"How can we not when we're graced with the presence of the Saviour?" Killian winked, taking a swig out of his flask.

"Crap, please don't use that word," Emma shuddered uncomfortably. "I may be the product of True Love and destined to break the curse, but I'm no 'saviour'…I'm no hero."

"What's wrong with being a hero?" Snow asked, stepping towards her daughter, desperately hoping that she would let her in.

"Nothing, it's just…not me. I'm just not cut out for the job…I wouldn't know how to be a hero anyway," she said tiredly. "I never had anybody to show me."

Snow was about to speak again, but simultaneously David squeezed her hand in warning just as Killian cleared his throat and stepped closer to Emma and threw an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to him.

"Come on, Swan. You look beat. Shall I show you to your room?"

"Only if you bring your rum with you."

"Ah! A woman of my own heart! Luckily for you, I don't mind sharing!"

Emma sighed and managed a small smile as she turned back to face her parents. "Night guys."

"Goodnight Emma," David called back reassuringly, not seeming to mind for the first time that Hook had his hand and hook on his daughter.

"Sweet dreams," Snow said with a wide smile that seemed a little too forced, but nobody said anything.

"Up you go, lass! If you're lucky, I may even read you a bedtime story!"

"Don't push your luck, Killian. I could quite easily throw you down the stairs."

* * *

The next morning had been awkward and uncomfortable for everybody.

Emma and Killian had fallen asleep together the night before in Emma's room, after Killian spent hours retelling tales of his past, whilst they both drank him out of rum. When they woke up, they realised that at some point during the night they'd ended up cuddling and that was enough to send alarm bells ringing in Emma's head so she did the only logical thing she could think of and threw him out.

This led to incredible levels of unease at the breakfast table.

Snow had tried her best to keep a conversation flowing, but unfortunately it ended up being rather one sided as Emma wasn't talking at all and David was too preoccupied glaring at Killian, who in turn was busy sending longing glances Emma's way that she was trying her best to ignore.

Eventually Emma had stood up and announced she was going to work—nobody dared mention that she was half an hour early.

From then on, the day only got worse.

In all of the mornings' drama, Emma had forgotten how pissed off she was with Graham because of the whole sleeping with Regina whilst Henry was in the house thing, until he arrived at the station with a coffee for himself and a cocoa for her. She had taken the drink with a quiet thanks and then had proceeded to get on with work, not pausing to make small talk at any point up until lunch.

"Fancy hopping over to Granny's with me for some food?" he asked with a smile that he hoped was convincing.

"Why don't you ask Regina? Or do you prefer quiet and secret lunches at home with her?" she shot back at him without even looking up from her desk.

"What are you talking about?" Graham had replied, clearly very confused.

Unfortunately for him, Emma was lacking both compassion and patience in that moment so she didn't even miss two beats before blurting out: "I know you're sleeping with her, and frankly I think it's disgusting."

"I…wait, what? Emma, I wouldn't—"

"Don't lie to me, Graham. You may think you're both being subtle, but clearly it wasn't subtle enough, seeing as a ten-year-old was able to pick up on it."

Graham stood looking at her completely in shock, lost for words, only able to keep opening and closing his mouth like a fish as the ability to speak had clearly left him.

"I've finished all my paperwork, unless there's anything else, I think I'm done for the day," Emma said, almost challenging him to refuse her and when he didn't say a word she started packing up her things and then made a swift exit.

Realising as soon as she left the building that she wasn't ready to head home yet, Emma quickly drove to the small convenience store, bought herself a journal in which to keep all her notes and then drove to the small stretch of beach where Henry's castle was.

She sat at the top of the castle until it got dark outside and wrote down everything she could think of about the curse, all her thoughts and speculations and even started writing down a list of who was who out of all the people in Storybrooke that she'd encountered so far. The man who they'd seen by the Jolly Roger sprang to mind and Emma found herself incredibly curious as to who he was and where he fitted in with the whole scheme of things.

Spurred on by this thought, she gathered up her things and decided to head over to Granny's to see if she could find him. After all, if he was staying anywhere in Storybrooke it had to be there as it was the only B&B in town.

* * *

"We need to talk," she announced as she entered the Diner to see him sat in one of the booths with his back to the door.

"Why?" he replied without turning to face her, she could tell from his tone of voice however that he was smiling.

"Because…" she started, moving to stand opposite him, taking off her hat, "you're suspicious."

"Sitting here?" he asked innocently. "Out in the open, drinking coffee?"

She shot him a dry look that screamed to stop with the bullcrap as she'd had more than enough shit to deal with today than she already needed. But apparently he didn't get the message.

"Wonder what kind of hell I would've raised had I ordered a donut."

"Your mysterious box—what's in it?" she asked quickly, pointing to the same box that was strapped to his bike the other day and was now sat by his feet under the table, interrupting him before he could call Ruby over to place an order for a sugary addition for his coffee.

"It's awfully frustrating not knowing, isn't it?" he replied with a smug smile and something told Emma he wasn't just referring to the box, more so the whole situation.

"Just tell me," she snapped, quickly losing what bit of patience she had left.

"Why?" he asked again, "is it illegal to carry around a box in these parts?"

"No, of course it's not," she retorted.

"You really wanna know what's inside it, don't you?" he commented thoughtfully, tilting his head to look at her in a scrutinising way.

"No," Emma snapped defensively, not wanting him to think she was desperate and also making it clear that she wasn't going to beg him to tell her. However, she was incredibly curious, so she changed her answer after a second thought, finally taking a seat in the booth. "Well, maybe."

He simply grinned at her, taking a sip of his drink before answering. "I'm gonna make you wait. You're gonna have to wait a _long_ time and watch me carry it around, hauling it to strange and mysterious places, and with each passing moment, the mystery will become more tantalizing. Your imagination will inflame, but so will your frustration never knowing, only guessing what could possibly be inside that box."

Emma shot him a suspicious look and leaned forward to him half way through his speech, wondering even more than ever who the ever-living hell this guy was and what was in the _damn_ box. She was half tempted just to reach down and open it herself, but thankfully he offered her an ultimatum.

"Or…You could let me buy you a drink sometime, and I'll tell you right now."

"You wanna buy me a drink?" she questioned him in disbelief.

"Yes," he replied immediately, leaning closer to her over the table, the smile never leaving his face.

Emma didn't give the idea any more thought before simply saying, "Okay, a drink it is." She had to know what was going on with this man and maybe a drink with him would give her all the answers she needed.

His smile widened and he leaned backwards away from her only to pick up the box off the floor and set it in the table in front of her, undo the laches and open the lid to reveal…a typewriter?

"Really?"

"I'm a writer. I find this place provides inspiration, don't you?" he asked in the same mysterious tone he seemed to have adapted permanently whilst talking to her, and then closed the lid on his typewriter again.

"I thought you said you were here because of Hook?" she asked, feeling almost even more confused than she had done before.

"No, I was at the _ship_ to thank Hook, that's not why I'm in Storybrooke."

"Then why _are_ you in Storybrooke? To write a story?"

"No," he answered simply, moving to stand, throwing enough money down on the table to cover his drink and gathered his things "I'm here to help you live yours."

"Wait!" she called after him as he turned to leave. "What about that drink?"

He turned around to face her and smiled another cryptic smile, "I said 'sometime'. I'll see you round, Emma."

He disappeared around the corner again and Emma stood to follow him to try and carry on the conversation and ended up bumping straight into a clearly intoxicated Graham as he left the bathroom.

Absolutely not ready to have the conversation that was sure to follow, Emma sighed and turned to walk in the opposite direction and out of the Diner. She was just about to open the front door when a dart came souring past her head and sunk itself into the frame barely an inch away from her face.

"What the hell?!" she snapped disbelievingly, spinning around to find the Sheriff stood watching her with three more darts in his hands, giving her all the answers she needed as to who had taken a shot at her. "You could have hit me!"

"I never miss," he replied, taking a few almost predatorily steps in her direction. "You can't avoid me forever Emma, we work together."

"I'm not avoiding you, Graham. I just have no interest in having this conversation. It's your life, and I really don't care."

She sighed and then managed to make her exit from Granny's without drawing any more attention to them and the conversation they were having. Unfortunately, intoxicated Graham didn't seem to realise he was making a scene and followed her out into the street.

"If you don't care, then why are you so upset?"

"I'm not upset!" she insisted, refusing to face him as she headed for her car, frustrated that she'd parked further down the road and not outside the building.

"If that were true, you'd be at the bar with me having a drink and not running away," he persisted, running in front of her to block her exit.

"It's none of my business, really," she replied, trying to keep impassive.

"Can we please talk about this?" Graham almost begged, following after her again as she walked off. "I need you to understand."

"Why?" Emma asked in confusion, shocked a little bit by his forwardness as he grabbed hold of her arm to stop her running.

"I don't know. Uh, maybe so _I_ can understand."

"You need analysis, go talk to Archie," she suggested, not wanting to get any more involved with this than she needed.

"I wanna talk to you," he admitted suddenly.

"Well, your bad judgement is your problem, not mine."

"You don't know what it's like with her! I don't _feel_ anything. Can you understand that?" At this point he almost seemed deranged and if Emma was honest, she had no idea what to really do or say.

"A bad relationship? Yeah. I understand a bad relationship." God, this had _nothing_ on her past. "I just don't wanna talk about yours."

"Look, I know you and Regina have your own issues, and I should have told you that before you took the job."

"Yeah, why the secrecy?" she pressed, not quite sure how to feel that he had obviously tried to hide the whole thing from her. "We're all adults. You can do whatever you want."

"Cause I—I didn't want you to look at me the way you are now," he admitted slowly, looking straight into her eyes desperately as if searching for something – anything else – them other than contempt.

"Why do you care how I look at you?" Emma asked, really hoping that this conversation wasn't heading in the direction that she suspected.

"Because…" he started, almost helplessly.

"What?" she prodded, waiting for a reply when it happened.

He suddenly lunged forward, covering the distance between the two of them and kissed her. She was so shocked for a few seconds she didn't react at all, but when she gathered her wits back, she gave him a hard shove and stepped backwards to regain some of her personal space.

"What the hell was _that_?"

But instead of an apology flying from his lips, he said in an almost dazed voice: "Did you see that?!"

"How much have you been drinking?" Emma accused angrily. "That was _way_ over the line!"

"I'm sorry. I just—"

"What? You what?"

"I need to feel something."

She felt like screaming at him, but instead tried to keep her cool and answer him as calmly as possible. "Listen to me, Graham. You are drunk and full of regret. I get it. But whatever it is you are looking to feel, I can tell you one thing. You're not getting it with me."

"I couldn't agree more," agreed a clearly furious and pissed off Killian as he stormed towards them, dressed in his full pirate get-up, minus the hook, his eyes fixated on Graham as if in that moment, he was planning all of the many creative and bloody ways that he could commit his murder.

"Go home Graham," Emma sighed, moving to stand between the two men, knowing that even without the hook on, Killian could still do some serious damage to the drunk Sheriff.

"I'm sorry, Emma," Graham spluttered, almost as if he was having trouble focusing on what was going on. "Are you sure you didn't see it?"

"See what?" she asked in confusion, swatting away Killian's hand as it came to possessively rest on her hip as Graham stepped closer to her.

"The wolf!"

"What wolf?"

"Perhaps _that_ wolf?"

Emma and Graham both turned to face where Killian was pointing to a solitary grey wolf standing at the end of the street watching them all as if it could clearly understand what was happening.

"That's it!" Graham replied, looking very panicked, yet he took several steps towards the wolf and it seemed as though that was what the animal was waiting for, as it then crossed the rest of the distance between them until it was curled up against Graham's leg. Almost as if he was in a trance, Graham lowered his hand to the wolf's head.

"Don't!" Emma whispered in warning, trying not to do anything that would startle the wolf, that seemed rather calm at that moment. But she needn't have worried, as it suddenly became clear that somehow Graham and the wolf shared a deep bond, or at least had in the past.

"Mary-Margaret," Graham murmured suddenly in a broken voice, "I had a knife…I saw that I went to hurt her." He removed his hand from the wolf and rapidly it darted away down a back alley into the darkness. Graham went to run after it, but Emma grabbed hold of his arm like he'd done to her before.

"Stop, you'll get yourself killed! That was a wolf, a wild animal!"

"He wouldn't hurt me…I think he's my friend," he insisted, trying to push her away.

"You seem to be in shock mate, take it easy," Killian said suddenly, clearly his bloodlust from earlier had calmed significantly.

"I need to talk to Mary-Margaret," he exclaimed abruptly. "I need to make sure she's alright."

Emma was about to question him again, but she never got her words out as Killian pulled her aside, eyes wide.

"Swan…he remembers going to hurt your mother with a knife…we already know he's the huntsman…you don't suppose he's getting his memories back in small bursts?"

"He kissed me and then started to remember things," Emma suddenly realised. "You don't think—"

"We can talk about that later …I'd rather not think of another man being able to be close to you when you will not allow the same of me, if that's alright with you," he almost snapped, turning away from her and facing Graham again who seemed to be dealing with a sudden bout of dizziness and nausea as his face had almost drained of all colour and he was struggling to stand.

Emma watched Killian wrap an arm around Graham and start walking him over towards her bug without once turning to see if she was following and a little part of her heart almost felt like it _hurt_. She had hurt him that morning and he'd still come out looking for her, even though he knew she was in an emotional lockdown that would rival the security measures of a high-risk prison. He had come to make sure she was alright and had found her – however how briefly – in the arms of another man, who he was now doing everything in his power to help.

To say she felt like shit seemed like the understatement of the year.

She ran to catch up with them and unlocked the car so Killian could ceremoniously dump Graham over the backseat.

"Where are we going?" he asked pitifully; clearly the stress of the evening and his alcohol intake had caught up with him.

"You wanted to see Mary-Margaret, didn't you, mate?" the pirate replied, getting in the car himself, still refusing to look at Emma. "We're taking you to see her."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Emma asked quietly, not sure if this would make the situation better or worse.

"We need to jog his memory properly, we can't leave him like this," Killian replied grumpily. "In future though, if you're going to go around kissing the locals, can you at least pick the ones that aren't intoxicated?"

" _He_ kissed _me_!" she hissed defensively, starting the car and speeding down the main-street towards their house. "And in case you didn't notice, I pushed him away!"

"Emma, not now," was Killian's only response, his actual use of her name making the statement even more serious and unnegotiable.

The car was silent as they pulled up outside the house apart from Graham's quiet groans, and as soon as the car stopped, Killian was out the door, pulling the Sheriff to his feet and almost marching him with military precision into the house.

It was clear that the night was unfortunately far from being over.

* * *

Less than an hour later Emma found herself somehow in the middle of an incredibly heated debate and she wasn't entirely sure how she'd gotten herself into the situation and frankly had no idea how she was going to escape it either.

"She must kiss him again, maybe it'll restore the rest of his memories!"

"She can't simply go around kissing people! I'm serious, Snow. No way."

"David, you know I'm right! He just needs one last push!"

"But what if it's not the last push? What if he still doesn't remember and just gets even more confused?"

"You've got to have hope this will work!"

"But what if it doesn't?"

"Enough!" Emma finally managed to say, momentarily silencing her parents debate over whether she should try and kiss Graham again or not.

While David and Snow had both been very vocal on their opinions, Killian had almost been silent ever since they'd hauled the Sheriff into the living room and had positioned him in one of the armchairs by the fire where he too seemed to be confusedly trying to keep up with the conversation.

"Don't I get a say in the matter?" Emma asked, looking around the room at all of the faces looking back at her.

"Emma, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. I understand," Graham said suddenly, causing everyone's eyes to turn to him. "This isn't your problem; it's mine."

"It's all of our problem!" Snow exclaimed, standing up from her seat and moving to kneel by her daughter so she could look directly into her eyes. "Emma, this man…he saved my life once…without him, I would have died long before I even met your father. I owe him everything…the sacrifice he made for me…please, help him."

Emma sighed and turned to Killian, who, although was sat next to her on the sofa, has still not even spared her so much as a glance. "Killian, what do you thi—"

"Just do it, Swan. Put the man out of his misery," he said, cutting her off before she could finish her sentence. "You may as well finish what you started."

"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!" David snapped, raising his voice in warning. "This isn't her fault."

"I kissed her," Graham piped up again, clearly starting to feel more in control of himself again. "I was out of line and I'm sorry, but there is something else going on here and if what you're all saying is true, I would really like my memories back. If not in this way, maybe we can find another way."

"No," Emma said tiredly, rubbing her face in frustration. "We can't waste time. We'll try this once more and if it doesn't work, then we look for another way—agreed?"

"Absolutely!"

"Fine."

"If she must…"

Snow glared at David in frustration at his lack of enthusiasm, but Emma just felt empty.

Why was Killian acting like this? Why was he sending her such weird mixed signals? How come one moment he was furious about her kissing Graham, but the next was pushing her to repeat it? One thing was for sure, they were in for an interesting conversation after tonight.

"Thank you, Emma, I really appreciate your help," Graham smiled gratefully, moving to stand and then holding out his hand for her to take and he pulled her to her feet so she was standing directly in front of him.

"I swear to god if you're weird around me at work after this I'll spend my time in the office launching things at you from across the room," she sighed, giving him a warning look, however, that told him she wasn't joking. "Also, don't you dare even _mutter_ a suggestion about me _ever_ working nights."

"I already told you I'll cover the night shifts," he replied with a small smile.

"Good." She leaned forwards and kissed him, not giving herself a chance to back out.

It was only a small peck on the lips, you could barely even call it a kiss in all honesty, but it was almost as if an electric shocked passed between them at the contact.

Emma jerked away from him – practically as if she didn't have control over her own body anymore – and fell directly onto Killian's lap, and Graham was sent tumbling back into the bookcase in the corner of the room. His eyes open, but clearly not seeing what was in front of him in the room.

"I remember…" he said quietly after a few moments of bated breath, a few tears streaming down his face as all his memories came flooding back to him. He turned to Snow and immediately dropped to one knee and bowed in respect. "Snow White…I never thought our paths would cross a second time."

"Neither did I," she beamed, taking hold of his hands and helping him to his feet, "But I'm glad they have. I'm so pleased you have your memories back."

"I may have my memories, but Regina still has my heart," he muttered bitterly, turning away from them all. "I can't believe that I've been choosing to engage in a relationship with the woman who stole my heart and made me her slave…even in this realm, I cannot escape her."

"We will help you get your heart back," David suddenly declared, walking to clasp Graham on his back in a friendly manner. "You spared Snow's life years ago and also helped me escape captivity so I could return to her once before. We owe you our lives, we shall do everything in our power to help."

"Thank you," Graham replied solemnly, nodding at the prince. "But if it's all the same to you, I think it's time I returned home. I have a lot to think about."

"I completely understand," Snow assured him. "We shall see you soon though?"

"Of course," he agreed before turning to face Emma, who was still shocked into silence in an awkward but not uncomfortable position sprawled across Captain Hook's knees. "Thank you so much, Emma, and I'm sorry again for causing you any problems," he said eyeing up the fact that Killian was still as stiff as a board underneath the blonde woman. "See you at the station in the morning?"

Emma snorted in a very unladylike manner at the absurdity of the situation, before replying a short but sweet, "Sure," and then waved at him as he made his way out of the house with one final goodbye to her parents.

"It's been a long day, I think we should all head to bed," Killian announced as soon as the front door shut behind Graham. "Would you mind moving, Swan?"

"Actually, yeah," Emma snapped suddenly, deciding she'd had enough of his attitude. "I _do_ mind."

As the two glared at each other, David and Snow took their leave and left the room briskly, leaving them at it so they could argue and resolve the situation without an audience.

"Fine," Killian growled after realising he wasn't about to win against the stubborn woman on top of him and instead just scooped her up into his arms and carried her upstairs.

"What are you doing?!" Emma demanded, holding on tight to him in case he dropped her.

"Relax, lass. I've carried rum barrels heavier than you," he sighed, rolling his eyes as he turned into his own bedroom and shut the door behind him with his foot. "Are you done being stubborn or are you going to force yourself to stay glued to my side all night simply to make a point?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped, letting him drop her down on the bed as he immediately turned away from her and started stripping off and preparing for bed.

"Clearly you don't feel the same for me as I do you, Swan, so why are you insisting on torturing me and also yourself? If you don't wish to be in my company, just leave."

"I'm not trying to torture you."

"Well, nevertheless, you're doing a fine job of it."

"I'm sorry," she finally said, possibly more aggressively than she intended initially, but still.

"You're sorry?" he repeated back at her with a scoff, removing his shirt so he was left only in his leather trousers. "And just what are you sorry for, Swan?"

"I'm sorry about this morning. I just freaked out. I'm not…good with the emotional crap, you know?"

"Aye, as it turns out I am well versed in the 'emotional crap'."

"Look, stop it!" she shouted suddenly, raising to her feet and grabbing him by his shoulders with every intention to physically shake some sense into him if needed. "I panicked and I'm sorry, don't you ever do irrational things that you regret afterwards?"

"Emma, you threw me from your chambers like my presence physically offended you and then made no contact all day until I sought you out and found you in the arms of another man," he replied angrily, stepping back out of her grasp.

"How many times do I have to tell you that _he_ kissed _me_!" she bit back in frustration.

"That's not the point, Swan!" he yelled, finally losing his patience. "You stopped to yell at him at him afterwards! If that had been me, you'd have run straight away without a backwards glance!"

"That's because I don't know how to deal with my feelings for you!" she countered back at him before she'd truly had the chance to think about what she was saying.

"Feelings?" he asked, his tone changing into something that almost sounded hopeful. "Love, do you truly—?"

"Killian, did it escape your attention downstairs that after I kissed Graham to return his memories, it was as if some form of magic gave me a literal shove back to where I'm supposed to be?" she said tiredly, trying her best to convey how she felt without actually having to say it.

"I don't bloody care about magic!" he exclaimed, covering the distance between the two of them, his eyes never leaving hers. "What I care about is you and whether you have decided to let me in yet. I'm usually a patient man, Swan, but I don't know how much more patient I can be when we both know this is _it._ This is right and this is forever, so why are you fighting it?"

"Because I don't want you to just stay with me because you feel obligated because of some stupid magic thing!" she finally managed to confess, and even to her own ears it sounded utterly ridiculous.

"Emma, don't you _feel_ this?" he asked in a quiet voice, reaching out to her to move her hair back out of her eyes, his fingers brushing against her cheek and then resting on the side of her neck. "How can this be anything but real?"

"It feels like magic," she said in a broken whisper, her voice cracking at the emotion that unexpectedly swept through her whole body at his touch. "It's never felt anything like this when I've been with other guys."

Suddenly a smirk flashed across his features and he leaned in even closer so that he could whisper in her ear, his breath tickling her face. "That's because none of those men were me, darling."

"Someone's very full of themselves…" she muttered to herself, causing Killian to laugh quietly against the skin of her neck as he nuzzled himself there before pressing a single kiss against her pulse point.

"The best thing about True Love is that we were made for each other. Your body has just been waiting for me to explore it and your heart has been waiting to give itself to me…just submit, Emma…please…let me love you the way we both want and need."

She could have said a million and one things to him then, such as, she wasn't ready for that, or he was completely full of bullshit. But the truth was, he was right—that _was_ what she wanted and needed.

Maybe, just maybe, it was time to at least slow down the run into a jog; give him chance to carry on alongside her instead of always being a couple of feet behind, desperately trying to keep up. She was nowhere near ready to stop running completely, but the thought of perhaps having a partner in the race wasn't so bad.

Killian sighed, moving to pull back out of her personal space when he didn't receive a reply after what felt like forever, but Emma suddenly realised she'd made up her mind and stepped closer to him again, pressing her own body flush against his.

"Swan, what are you do—?"

"Okay."

"What?"

"I said 'okay'. I'm willing to give this a try. Relationships aren't something I'm particularly good at, and it's been a while—"

All of a sudden, his lips were on hers and she could barely breathe. This was how a kiss was supposed to feel and this was the only type of kiss that had ever had the ability to make her legs shake and her heart rate speed up at a capacity that she was sure must be dangerous.

This was so different to the other kiss they'd shared. That kiss had been the result of vulnerability on both sides and had never been allowed to escalate past the initial shock, this kiss, however, was in no way nearing its end.

They eventually fell onto the bed in a tangled mess of limbs and took that as the moment for them to both catch their breath.

"I know it won't always be smooth sailing, but I promise I will do everything in my power to make you happy, Emma," Killian panted breathlessly, pressing an affectionate kiss on her forehead as she smiled and sighed in contentment.

"I know you will," she replied confidently before wrapping his hooked arm around her for warmth and turning out the light in the room. "But trust me, Killian, things are only going to get even more complicated from now."

"Aye, love. I'm well aware," he laughed suddenly, as the thought occurred to him. "We're going to have to find a way to break the news to your Father."

* * *

On the other side of the house David and Snow laid in bed, quietly listening whilst looking at each other warily.

"The shouting has stopped," Snow observed in a whisper, watching as her husband's face darkened aggressively suddenly as he moved to sit up out of bed, half way out of the room before Snow grabbed hold of his wrist to steady him. "Where are you going?"

"If that bastard pirate has his hands on her, I swear…"

"Charming, you know he only has one hand—"

"That's not the point, Snow, and you know it!"

"He is her _True Love._ Also, he's no more unsuitable for her than you were unsuitable for me; have you stopped to consider that at all?"

David looked almost surprised for a moment as her words sank in before he sighed, frustrated and silently climbed back into bed. "I only want what's best for our little girl," he said softly after a moment.

"I know, me too," Snow replied, moving to cuddle up to him in the bed to offer some form of comfort. "But Emma is a grown woman, capable of making her own decisions. If she chooses Captain Hook, then so do we."

"But he's a pirate!"

"And you were a shepherd pretending to be a Prince," she gently reminded him with a fond smile. "At least we know he'll be able to protect her."

Immediately, David was unable to hold back the laughter that bubbled through his sealed lips and it took him a moment to compose himself enough to reply: "You may be right, but who will be there to protect _him_ from her?"


	7. Chapter 7

"So…you and Captain Hook?"

"I'd appreciate it if we didn't have this chat now."

"Why's that?"

"Because I don't want to discuss my new relationship whilst trying to break into a crypt?"

"Oh, okay. Fair enough."

"Aha!" she cheered quietly, a grin spreading across her face as she heard the lock on the large heavy door click open. "It's all in the tumblers."

Graham beamed back at her and handed over her flashlight as she rose to her feet and the two of them slid through the doors into the creepy looking vault.

Regardless of the awkward situation in which Graham had his memories returned to him, the relationship between the him and Emma had only gotten stronger since then. Emma would even have gone so far as to say he'd become a very good friend; which was almost unheard of for her as she didn't usually do the whole friend thing.

Hence the reason why she was helping him break into the Mills family crypt in the Storybrooke graveyard in search of his heart. Creepy or what…

"It's got to be in here somewhere," Graham murmured quietly, looking around the pitch black with only the two beams of light from the flashlights to guide them as he started looking through around. "There's gotta be a hidden door. A lever…something."

Emma stood watching him at the doorway, praying that they wouldn't get caught, really apprehensive about touching anything in case she'd leave her fingerprints on anything.

"Graham, this doesn't feel right…we need to get out," Emma replied cautiously, watching him as his actions got even more erratic in desperation. "I don't think there's anything in here."

"There has to be. And if there isn't, then—"

"Hang on…" Emma suddenly interrupted him, shining her torch on the single coffin inside the small building. "Are those finger marks in the dust?"

Both Graham and herself then knelt down on the floor at eye level to the marks and then realised that there were also scrapes along the stone floor indicating that someone had in fact repeatedly over time been pushing and sliding the heavy coffin backwards and forwards. Being very careful to only put her hands in the same place as already on the coffin, she pushed with all her might and much to hers and Graham's surprise a flight of stairs appeared leading downwards, lit by an ominous blue glow.

"Emma, it's down there. I know it," Graham insisted, barely pausing for thought before disappearing at full speed down the steps.

"Graham, wait!" Emma hissed worriedly before throwing all caution to the wind and following him. There was no way of getting out of this now if they got caught.

"The psychotic bitch brought it with her!" he shouted once he reached the bottom, giving Emma the chance to catch up, his face a combination of disgust but also excitement.

"Brought what?" she asked once she'd reached the bottom of her stairs before seeing what he was looking at. "Shit…is that…?"

"Her collection of hearts? Yeah, it is. And I know exactly where mine is."

He swiftly walked towards the wall covered in small boxes, threw the black curtain out the way and went straight for the drawer that he knew contained his heart. In less than a couple of seconds he managed to prise it open, lift the lid of the chest inside and shakily remove the heart.

"I've got it!"

"Great, now let's get out of here before Regina catches us," Emma insisted, nervously looking up the stairs, expecting to see the evil woman standing at the top ready to close the gap and seal them down there to starve to death.

Graham didn't reply, he simply nodded and briskly followed Emma back up to ground level. They had barely pushed the coffin back in place when they heard a voice call from outside.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Emma tried her best to put an innocent face on before stepping outside if the crypt and turning to face the clearly pissed off Mayor who was stood looking at them expectantly with a bouquet of flowers in her hand.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she replied in fake confusion, clearly playing dumb was going to be their best option.

"Bringing flowers to my Father's grave, like I do every Wednesday," Regina snapped in reply, almost certainly seeing Emma's futile attempt to mask their true reasoning.

"Don't blame her," Graham quickly interjected, seeing the argument coming before the accusation left Regina's lips. "It's my fault. I wanted to look in there."

"Really? Why?" Regina replied, her tone much more light and friendly when she was addressing her supposed fuck buddy. "What were you looking for?"

"Nothing," he said tiredly, walking closer towards her, managing to slip his heart into Emma's hand as he brushed past her to get to the other woman. "It was, uh…it was nothing."

Emma was so shocked that she had a freaking _human heart_ in her hands that she nearly dropped it, but she got a grip at last minute and managed to slip it up the sleeve of her jacket, making it look like she was just trying to keep her hands warm.

"You don't look well, dear," Regina observed, her eyes scanning calculatedly across Graham's features and seeing the stress and strain he was under. "Let's take you home," she insisted when he didn't reply, reaching out to grab his hand to guide him away like he was an incapable toddler.

Graham immediately pulled out of her grip, almost babbling nervously as he did. It was like his two identities were fighting against each other about how to feel about the woman in front of him who was the sole reason why he was stuck without a heart inside his chest. "No, I…I don't want to go home. Not with you."

Emma's eyes widened in surprise and then flickered rapidly between Graham and Regina as they started some form of stare off. The situation had just taken an even more awkward and uncomfortable turn and it did not settle well with her. There was no way to tell now what the outcome would be.

"Oh?" Regina finally replied, actually looking a little bit hurt as well as affronted and shocked at his words. "But you'll go with her?"

"Hey, this is between you two. Leave me out of it," Emma quickly interrupted, not sure if it was a good thing or not that Regina merely suspected there was something going on between them romantically, instead of sussing out immediately that Graham was no longer trapped under the curse's mind-wipe.

"She's right," Graham added, but neither of them missed the evil and fiery look the Mayor sent Emma regardless to their comments. "It's between us," he carried on, trying to get her attention, "And things have to change."

"And I wonder why that is all of a sudden," she replied angrily, a cold snarl on her face.

"It has nothing to do with her!" Graham insisted taking a step closer to Regina so he was almost forming a human barrier between her and Emma. "You know, I've realised that I don't feel anything, Regina. And I know now it's not me. It's you."

Emma was suddenly aware of the angle they were going for here and prepared to act her butt off when the anger of the woman in front of her returned on her at full force she'd be ready to fight back without giving the game away.

"So, you're leaving me for her?" she said almost monotonously, her face suddenly void of any emotion—which was definitely not a good sign at all.

"I'm leaving you for me," he corrected, refusing to take even a step backwards, refusing to let Regina feel like she controlled every situation she wanted like everyone was just a pawn in the great scheme of things.

"Graham, you're not thinking straight," she replied in a way that was scarily half flirtatious and half threatening.

"Actually, for the first time, I am. I'd rather have nothing than settle for less. Nothing is better than what we have. I need to feel something, Regina, and the only way to do that is to give myself the chance."

Emma was unable to hide the proud smile that flashed across her face at his words; he was doing the right thing and there was no way that this was over yet that easily, but at least he'd been able to say his piece.

"Graham…" Regina said pleadingly, taking a step towards him and moving to hold onto his jacket, but he stepped back in retaliation as if her touch had physically burned him.

"I'm sorry. It's over."

At his final words, Regina gasped quietly and for the first time ever Emma saw true weakness and vulnerability in the other woman as a few tears escaped from her eyes. "I don't know what I ever did to you, Miss Swan to deserve this. To have you keep coming after everything I hold dear."

"I told you, it's not her," Graham said as quickly as was humanly possible to cut Emma off before she made some biting remark about how she'd ruined her life that would give the whole thing away.

"None of this happened until _she_ got here," Regina spat furiously, her whole body rigid with rage.

"I'm sorry," Emma started sarcastically, "but have you ever stopped to think that maybe the problem isn't with _me_? But with _you_?"

"Excuse me?" she retaliated in a tone that could have killed her five times over if it wasn't for the fact that Regina was not the one in control of this situation.

"Henry came and found _me_. Graham…kissed me. Both were miserable," she pointed out, her words having just as much bite to them as Regina's did. "Maybe, _Madame Mayor_ , you need to take a good, hard look in the mirror and ask yourself why that is. Why is everyone running away from _you_?"

She probably should have seen it coming, but yet Regina's fist coming soaring into her face managed to make firm contact, enough to send her flying backwards into Graham who she promptly knocked to the ground as he managed to break her fall.

"Regina!" Graham snapped in shock as Emma collided with him at full force and winded him as they hit the floor.

Emma had barely been on the grass for half a second before she was back on her feet and sending a furious punch of her own at the bitch who just seemed to make everybody's lives a living hell just so she could live in a nice big house, boss everybody around terrorise people—with or without her magic. Not stopping there, she grabbed the other woman from behind, trapping her arms against her sides and then throwing her at full force against the stone of the crypt and pinning her there so she couldn't escape, somehow managing to keep the heart hidden up her jacket sleeve.

"Stop!" Graham yelled, managing to wrench an almost animalistic Emma off Regina before she could do anymore damage, putting some distance between the pair.

Both of them walked away from the other, catching their breath. Regina snatched back the flowers from the ground that she'd dropped when being attacked and Emma mainly focused on reigning in her temper before she lashed out again. She then went to walk straight past the Mayor – who had a bleeding split lip due to her fierce right hook – and barely gave her one last fleeting look before carrying on down the path towards her car.

"Not worth it."

She quietly heard Regina try calling out to Graham one last time, but it was to no avail as she immediately picked up his footprints in the gravel following after her, leaving the twisted and evil woman alone in the graveyard.

* * *

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me, how I lost my mind," Graham apologised as he passed Emma an ice pack for the nasty cut on her eyelid. "I don't know why I ever thought challenging her was a good idea."

"It's okay," she accepted, taking the pack out of his hand and pressing it to her face, only wincing slightly at the cold. "You were desperate and frustrated…and heartbroken."

At her last statement, Graham felt his eyes drift back to hers and he sighed, knowing that clearly Emma was a lot more perceptive than he'd given her credit for. Regina may have been using him for sex, but he had formed some sort of attachment to her that he'd not been able to explain. Now he knew that attachment was only because she'd had his heart and he was under her command and had been ever since the day he'd spared Snow White's life. Knowing this, however, did not stop the hold she had over him having an effect.

"I don't know why I let myself get caught up with her," he finally sighed in reply, not knowing what else to say to her.

"Graham, don't you dare beat yourself up about this," she insisted, shooting him a look that told him not to test her. "You were cursed, you had no idea she was an Evil Queen, for gods sakes!"

"I should have realised that something was wrong sooner though, Emma," he protested tiredly, taking a perch next to her on the desk she was sitting on.

"And then what? Go around telling people that you're sure the Mayor has your heart locked away in a hidden underground vault?" she asked, raising an eyebrow challengingly, trying to get him to understand that there was absolutely nothing he could have done differently.

"I see your point," he finally admitted, moving to put some antiseptic ointment onto her cut, quickly apologising for her sharp gasp of pain as it made contact with the open wound.

"I felt that."

"Don't. You'll make me jealous."

"You're ridiculous," she laughed when it finally registered what he was getting at.

"And you're the kind of woman I know I need to avoid getting into fist fights with," he returned with a laugh of his own. "I will forever remember the moment when you punched the Evil Queen in the face and split her lip…"

"Killian will be devastated when he finds out he missed a fight," she found herself saying with a fond smile, shaking her head in amazement as the reality really sank in that she'd physically drawn blood from the woman who had tried to ruin her life. It was nowhere near payback, but it had still felt pretty damn satisfying.

"I'm glad that, regardless of everything, you managed to find happiness, Emma," Graham said suddenly, the mood within the room changing drastically. "I can tell that Hook's just as good for you as you are for him."

"Graham, we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to," she replied, not wanting to rub it in his face about how much of a shambles his love life was in.

"It's fine," he brushed her off with a shrug, moving to stand to put his jacket back on. "I just wanted to let you know I'm happy for you."

"Where has all this come from all of a sudden?" she pressed, feeling herself get suspicious.

He sighed and sat back down next to her before finally meeting her eyes. "She's going to be really mad, Emma."

"Who? Regina?"

"Yes. She may not have my heart hidden away where only she can find it anymore, but I've royally pissed her off and I can guarantee the first thing she'll go to do now is look for my heart with the intent of crushing it," he explained quietly, his eyes haunted and concerned.

"But she can't do anything because we have your heart nice and safe away from her," Emma replied, confused as to why he was still worried.

"She may not have magic here, but she still wields more power than anybody. She can still do terrible things without my heart and without her magic," he said cautiously, picking up his heart off the desk and holding it to his chest almost as if he was imaging it was back inside him where it belonged.

"Don't say that!" she responded quickly, standing to put her own jacket back on and letting her hair down from the ponytail she'd secured it in so he could treat her cut. "You'll be fine. We'll _all_ be fine. She may be in for a nasty shock, but there's nothing she can do about it now. Look, I'm gonna head home now, but I will see you in the morning."

"Sure thing, Deputy Swan." Graham managed a small smile before holding his heart out for her to take. "Will you keep this somewhere safe for me until we figure out how to put it back? It's much safer with you than it is with me."

"I mean, sure, if you think that's the best idea," Emma replied with a shrug, reaching out to take the heart off him, still a little freaked out by it. "It feels weird."

"There's no need to be rude," he said in mock offence. "Remember that's my heart, Emma. Please be gentle with it."

"I'm afraid I don't do gentle," she laughed in reply. "Just ask Killian."

"I feel like that's information that should remain classified between you and the pirate."

"I thought you wanted the juicy gossip?"

"Emma, I'm not a teenage girl at a sleepover, I'm a trained killer."

"And I'm a Fairytale Princess."

Graham snorted and rolled his eyes at her affectionately. "Get going, you. Before Hook comes looking for you."

"Yes boss!" she replied with mock bow, grabbing her car keys off her desk. She was half way out the door when Graham called back to her.

"Oh and Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. I would never have found my heart without your help."

"Don't thank me yet, we still need to figure out how to put it back inside you without surgery," she reminded him.

"I know, but we're half way there. It's closer than I would be right now if you didn't believe in me and in all this. I'd probably be dead right now after the showdown we just had with Regina if we hadn't found it," he said in a voice that was almost way too calm to be talking about his own death.

"Well you're not dead and everything's fine. You're not getting out of the nightshifts that easily," she retorted with a snort.

Graham laughed at her and shook his head in amazement, "I'm glad to hear that you've got your priorities straight."

"Graham, I swear, you put me on the nightshift and you can deal with the murderous wrath of Captain needy-pants complaining to you all the way into the afterlife about me not being at home."

"That does sound quite unpleasant."

"Definitely. So, don't you dare plan on dying anytime soon, okay?"

"I'll try my best. Goodnight Emma."

"Night, Graham."

* * *

"Emma, is that you, love? How did the search go with Humbert? You're back very late," Killian called out to her after hearing the from door close from where he'd been sat downstairs on the couch waiting for her return.

"Yeah, sorry it took so long. We ran into a few issues," she replied, kicking off her boots at the door before walking into the living room and sinking into the couch cushions next to him. "But we got it," she said, handing him Graham's heart.

"That's great, Swan!" he grinned, turning the heart over between his hand and hook. "It's a weird feeling, isn't it? Holding a heart."

"I got so creeped out when Graham passed it to me, I wanted to drop it."

"It's a good job you didn't, the poor man's heart is already mangled enough due to the Queen."

"It worries me, Killian," she said suddenly, her voice quiet and unsure. "I feel completely sick…if she had Graham's heart at her disposal, how many others does she have too? We have to find a way to end this."

"We will, love, I swear it," he insisted, putting down the heart, pulling her body against his, holding her close so he could press a kiss to her forehead. "We _will_ find a way to defeat her."

"We need to do it before anybody gets hurt. I know she claims to love him, but I'm terrified that she'll hurt Henry just to destroy me," she almost growled lowly, moving to stand so she could march into the kitchen to pour herself a strong drink.

"I know she's a monster, but every monster has its weakness," Killian said passionately, following her and accepting the glass she held out for him to take, "and I would bet my life on the fact that your boy is the only thing that makes her life truly worth living."

"When I gave Henry up I was hoping and praying that he would end up in a normal, happy family where he would grow up safe and loved. Instead he ended up on his own with the woman who was determined to destroy our family," she sighed, letting her legs give way and slide down onto the hard kitchen floor, her back against the cabinet.

"But it enabled him to find his way back to you," Killian pointed out, moving to sit next to her. "And he's a wonderful lad, so I wouldn't beat yourself up about it. You did what you thought was best."

"I wish I'd been strong enough just to raise him on my own," she admitted, downing her drink and reaching up behind her on the counter to bring down the whole bottle so she could start drinking from that. "I wish I'd never given him away."

"Everything happens for a reason, love," he insisted, "if you'd have done that, you'd probably never have been reunited with your family."

"And I'd have never met you," she realised slowly, downing another generous mouthful of the burning alcohol.

"Aye, that too," he agreed, taking the bottle from her so she didn't finish off the whole thing. "What you've got to remember is fate is playing a large part in all this chaos. You're the saviour. You _will_ break the curse. It's just a matter of finding out _how_."

"Well what do you suggest?" she asked tiredly, desperately hoping that he had more ideas than she did.

He groaned and winced, downing his glass of rum in one go before replying, knowing what he was about to say before the words left his mouth. "Unfortunately, a good place to start would be to visit to the Dark One first thing tomorrow morning."

* * *

"Well it's official; our landlord is a grade A asshole."

"I don't know what one of those is, but it sounds bad, so I'm going to have to agree with you."

"Where the hell are we even supposed to find his kid?! And who names a child 'Baelfire' anyways?!"

Emma stormed away from Gold's shop in frustration, marching directly for Granny's. Maybe a cocoa would make her feel less murderous about the situation. Killian followed behind her, deep in thought before he suddenly had an idea and reached for her hand to halt her speed-walking.

"Swan, I've got an idea. If this works, we could be well on our way to breaking the curse!" he announced, grinning.

"Great," she replied, amazed he'd come up with a solution so fast. "What's the idea?"

"Meet me back at home in an hour or so, I'll come bearing a solution, I swear," he promised, leaning forwards to kiss her on the check before he turned and made a beeline for the docks.

She half-heartedly called after him in confusion, absolutely not enjoying being left out of the loop, but made no move to chase after him. Clearly, he knew what he was doing and so she would just have to sit and wait for him to come back and share his plan.

Deciding she still wanted and needed a hot cocoa with cinnamon, she carried on the way she'd been going initially and headed towards Granny's.

"Hey Emma!" Henry shouted, running towards her from the direction of the Mayor's house.

"Hey kid," she replied tiredly, as he fell into step next to her as they walked up the front path to the diner.

"Are you okay?" Henry immediately asked, taking one look at her crestfallen expression and drooped shoulders. "Where's Killian?"

"Killian's gone to his ship, I think," she replied, pushing open the door and gesturing for Henry to go in before her, trying to avoid answering his initial question as she didn't believe swearing at her ten-year old was a good idea.

"Two cocoas coming up!" Ruby called to the duo with a wink as soon as she saw them enter the building, shooing them into a booth before they could order for themselves.

"Thanks Ruby," Emma smiled, taking a seat whilst desperately trying to avoid Henry's observant gaze, the fact that he'd figured there was something wrong instantly not making her feel very confident in her acting abilities. She could never hide anything from him.

Henry was about to open his mouth to interrogate her, but they were interrupted again by the arrival of their drinks. They both thanked Ruby again before she flounced off.

"Emma—"

"Henry, I need to tell you something."

* * *

Emma had just finished telling Henry as calmly as possible about the task they'd been set by Gold in order to gain his help, and he seemed to be sitting and processing it in silence, thoughtfully sipping at his drink that was now the perfect drinking temperature.

"What do you think, kid?" she pressed, a bit deterred by his sudden quietness.

"Will you be gone long?" he asked suddenly, looking up at her with his big eyes.

"We'll be as fast as we can. I mean, we're not going anywhere just yet, we need a plan first," she explained, trying not to get her hopes up at the sadness that took over his face at the thought of her being away for a while.

"I'm sure Killian has a great plan already underway," he replied confidently, a smile taking over his face at the mention of the Captain. "He told me he'd take me sailing at some point soon, do you think we could maybe go before you guys leave?"

"You'll have to ask him, but I'm sure he'd be cool with that."

"I wish I could come with you," he said wistfully with a sigh. "Instead I get left with the Evil Queen for however long you're gone."

"Hey, what about Operation Cobra? Just because me and Killian aren't here won't mean things come to a stop," she replied quickly, trying to cheer him up again. "David and Mary-Margaret will still be here, I'm sure they'd love to spend some time with you."

"Do you think Grandma will teach me how to fire an arrow?" he asked excitedly.

"Um…possibly?" she replied cautiously, not wanting to make any promises. "Maybe you could ask David to teach you some sword skills?" that sounded safer than firing a bow and arrow along the beach where Archie liked to walk Pongo at weird hours of the day.

"Nah, Killian's going to start giving me sword fighting lessons," he babbled excitedly. "He told me he was a better fighter than Grandpa because pirates aren't afraid to fight a little dirty and that'll give me an advantage over all other Princes and Knights and stuff!"

"Killian offered to do that?" she asked a little surprised, not aware of just how close Henry and Killian had got during the time they had spent together so far.

"Yeah, how awesome is that? Being taught to fight by Captain Hook!" he grinned, finishing off his cocoa and relaxing back into the booth.

"So…" she started after a moment to let the mood settle a little, but a bit unsure how to go about what she wanted to ask, "You like Killian? You don't mind that we're together?"

"Why would I mind? It's so cool! Maybe one day I'll get to have Captain Hook as my step-dad!" he exclaimed happily. "He's not what I expected from the book at all though, he's really sappy."

Emma couldn't help but to laugh at the truth in Henry's comment as she thought of all the times in the last few weeks that Henry had played messenger, bringing Emma food to work, random gifts, flowers etc. For a fierce, pirate Captain, he was a hopeless romantic and it was kind of endearing but also hilarious to see Henry show up to the station weighed down by an extravagant floral arrangement for her desk or a colossal sized takeaway bag from Granny's containing all her favourites.

Emma was so lost in her own mind that she took almost too long to register that Henry was talking again.

"Can you tell me about him?"

"Who?" she asked in confusion, sipping at her cocoa.

"My Father."

Emma nearly spat her hot chocolate out over the table she was so shocked at the sudden change of topic. When she didn't immediately reply, Henry spoke again.

"I told you about your parents, now you're living with them both."

"I didn't really get a choice in the matter…" she murmured, thinking about the sudden occurrence of both her mother and father fussing over her like she was still a baby. Snow had even taken cringe-worthy photos before they left for hers and Killian's first official date and everything the other night…it was positively horrific.

"Please?" he begged, looking up at her desperately and she sighed, knowing there was no way she could deny him this, knowing all too well how frustrating it was growing up herself not having a clue who she was and where she had come from.

"I was pretty young. I'd just gotten out of the foster system and I ended up on the streets for a while by myself. I was—kid, are you sure you want to her this?" she asked with a sigh, it wasn't the fairy-tale he was probably expecting or hoping to hear.

"I'm sure," he insisted adamantly. "Go on?"

"Well, I met your Dad when I was trying to steal a car. I got half way down the road before he sprung up from the back seat, scaring the life out of me and said I could have just asked for the keys."

"You stole my Dad's car?!"

"Kinda… see, he'd already stolen it. So, I storta stole a stolen car…"

Henry's face went through a range of different emotions within the space of about five seconds, but eventually settled on shock.

"So, you and my Dad were bandits together?"

Emma couldn't help but to laugh, trust Henry to try and make a fairy-tale out of everything. But he had to know the full truth, otherwise there was no point in this. Her life had been everything _but_ a fairy-tale.

"We lived in that car together, stealing and doing everything we could to not get caught. We had plans to get a real place, start a life together…but then he set me up to take the fall for a crime he committed and I ended up in jail, all alone…and pregnant."

Henry, moved to slide in next to her on her side of the booth and moved closer so he could wrap his arms around her in the best way that he could. "My Dad was the reason you went to prison?"

"Yeah, kid…I'm sorry I don't have a better story to tell you. It sucks. My life sucked. Well, it did until you came and found me, anyways," she smiled sadly, trying to prevent a few tears from falling, but failing spectacularly.

"Was I born in jail?" he asked inquisitively in a tone that refused to let Emma know whether he thought that was a good thing or not.

"Yeah," she sighed after a second, not wanting to either lie or evade telling him everything that he deserved to know. "I wish I could have raised you, you know…But I didn't have anything to give you… all I had was the clothes I'd been arrested in and a set of car keys that I knew belonged to the car we'd been living in…"

"I get it, it's okay," Henry assured her confidently, squeezing her even more tightly. "I understand why you gave me away. And it doesn't matter, we have each other now, and that's what counts."

"How did you get so wise?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood, giving him a playful shove.

He merely grinned up at her and shrugged nonchalantly. "Easy. I am _your_ son after all."

Emma wasn't able to help a small sob leaving her lips as it really sunk in for the first time that he really didn't harbour any ill feelings or resentment towards her for what she did—he truly understood her reasoning and accepted it. He really was a great kid.

"Hey, shouldn't you be getting to school right around now?" she remembered suddenly, shooing him up out of the booth and he sighed dramatically.

"Okay, fine, I'm going! Can I come by later? I wanted to talk to Killian about the whole sailing thing."

"Sure thing," she replied, grabbing his bag and passing it to him. "You can come round anytime, Henry, you know that."

"I know," he smiled, putting on his backpack. "So… I'll see you tonight?"

"Sure, kid," she smiled fondly, her smile widening even more when he moved closer to give her a hug before he turned to leave the Diner.

He turned at last minute to wave at her and call out: "Bye Mom!", before disappearing out of the door to run for the bus.

Emma sat there, gaping for a good few seconds before it actually processed that he'd called her his mother for the first time. Utterly shocked, she realised see needed to get a grip of herself before she drove anywhere.

"That seemed like progress, if I ever saw it," announced a voice from behind her, making her jump a foot in the air.

"Jesus, Graham! Don't sneak up on me!"

Graham merely laughed and passed her a to-go cup with a smile. "I just bumped into Hook on his way back to your house, he said that if you were still sat in here drowning yourself in cocoa, I was to get you a takeaway one and send you home."

She rolled her eyes and stood up, taking the drink. "He's so demanding sometimes."

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger!" he defended, arms raised. "It's a good thing I ran into you anyways. Things are gonna be quiet today at the station so you might as well take the day off. Whatever Hook needed you at home for sounded important. Also, I still feel awful about last night…so go rest," he demanded, pushing her towards the door.

"Are you sure you don't need help doing rounds or anything?" she checked, just making sure before she went and put her pyjamas on at home.

"I'm positive, now go!" he instructed, shooting her a gaze she knew better than to argue against.

"Okay! Jeez, I'm going!" she laughed, purposefully bumping into him as she walked past. "Have fun playing darts all day on your own."

"Well I have to keep my skills fresh," he joked, sending her a playful wink just before she left. "I have to be better than you at _something_!"

* * *

"So, before you all bite my head off, let me finish explaining, okay?"

"That sounds promising…"

"Charming!"

"Just get on with it, Killian."

" _Emma_!"

"Thank you, your Majesty," Killian smiled gratefully at Snow, looking between the three faces in the room.

"You said this was urgent, yet you've been stalling for nearly half an hour now," Emma sighed, eyebrow raised questioningly. "You're getting between me and my pyjamas, please talk fast."

"As you wish, darling," he sighed, moving to stand up and fetch something from the kitchen.

"Now where is he going?" David moaned, throwing his hands up in the air and sinking back into the couch in a sulk as he met his wife's disapproving gaze.

"Just wait, David. This seems important."

"Aye, lass. It _is_ important," Killian retorted moving to put a sheet-covered object on the coffee table.

"What's that?" Emma asked, leaning forwards in her chair, almost to try and get a closer look.

Killian stood in front of them all, looking nauseous, almost as if he was planning some great speech that may or may not be the last thing he ever did. "You promise you'll hear my whole tale?"

"Yes," Snow answered for everyone, digging her nails into David's knee subtly to stop him retorting in a negative way. She had not left work early for a 'family emergency' for it to _actually_ turn into one due to high flying tempers.

"Swan?" Killian asked almost nervously, looking at his True Love.

"Sure, how bad can it be?"

"Well…uh…up until the moment I appeared inside your apartment, I had been working with a woman named Cora…"

"You need to leave."

" _Snow_?"

"The hell?!"

"Please, your highness, let me finish—"

"No!" Snow suddenly exclaimed furiously, moving to her feet, closing in on Killian as if she were half a second away from running him through, credit to him though, he stood his ground. "You don't get to finish, I've heard quite enough."

"This is ridiculous!" Emma interjected quickly, before things could derail any more than they already had. "Who even is this Cora person?"

"She's a monster!" Snow snapped furiously.

"She's Regina's mother," David said after a second, realising that his wife wasn't going to elaborate any more than that.

"You were buddied up with Regina's Mom?!" Emma asked in a dangerously raised voice, turning on Killian with a furious look on her face.

"Love, I was merely using her to—"

"Is that something you do often then? Use people to get what you want?"

"Emma, that was unnecessary…" David commented, not quite sure why he was coming to the pirate's aid, but not wanting him to be too outnumbered before they'd heard his story.

"Are you still working for her now?" she asked after taking a few calming breaths, her eyes moulding into his, ready to pounce if she detected any kind of a lie on his face.

"I wouldn't be helping you take down the Evil Queen if I was," he said tiredly, not shying away from her gaze, knowing exactly what she was doing and knowing he had to _prove_ that he was telling the truth before she'd believe him.

"He's telling the truth," Emma said quietly after staring him down for a long moment, starting to feel awful at jumping into a conclusion that was wrong.

"May I carry on my story? And I think it would be rather beneficial for you all to listen to what I have to say before interjecting again before I reach the end…"

"Sure, Hook," David replied, tugging Snow back down next to him on the couch before she could speak. "Tell us what you know."

"Well I made acquaintances with Cora just before the curse hit that sent you all over to this land. We formed an alliance of sorts that ensure that as long as I agreed to help her get to Regina, she would help me get to the Dark One," he started, starting to pace around the living room as if he couldn't make his feet keep still. "I knew if I tagged along with the curse I wouldn't remember who I was, so how could I enact my revenge? This partnership seemed like the best way to get what I wanted… but, obviously, I was then whisked away by Emma's wish and everything turned out alright in the end."

"What does all this have to do with us finding Gold's son?" Emma asked, not quite sure where his story was going.

"Well, Cora, like her daughter, possessed copious amounts of dark magic and her prised possessions were things she didn't care to leave behind when we eventually found a way to access transportation between worlds. One thing was for certain though, we knew when we eventually found a way, we would be possibly travelling on the Jolly Rodger, so—"

"So, she was keeping her weird, dark and dangerous trinkets on your ship, which is now spontaneously here in Storybrooke?" Emma asked, trying to make sure she was keeping up.

"Aye, love. That's correct," he replied with a nod.

"You don't think she came over with the ship, do you?" Snow asked suddenly as the thought struck her.

"That's impossible. The Crocodile told me the only reason I was able to get here was because of the True Love connection between Emma and myself and the fact that she possesses some of the strongest light magic he'd ever known. Cora would never be able to get to a land without magic using her dark powers… even on a magical flying ship. She probably hadn't even realised I'd disappeared before the Jolly followed me over. She was constantly too busy searching the lands for a method of transportation. It was my job to simply watch the bags."

"And just what was in those bags that was so important?" David questioned, clearly in deep concentration, trying to take in and absorb every word leaving Killian's mouth in case it was vital information they would need later.

"Well, amongst other things, _this_." He lifted the cloth off of the object on the table and revealed what looked to be a blank globe, like the ones you would find in school classrooms, only without any of the world printed on it.

"What the hell is that?" Emma asked, shifting closer so that she could get a better look at it.

"I believe it's called a 'locator globe'. Cora had it so that when we got to this realm she would be able to locate the exact place when her daughter was," he tried to explain, clearly not too clear how it worked either.

"We may be able to use it to locate Baelfire!" Snow gasped excitedly as she realised just what the globe meant.

"How does it work?" David asked calmly, clearly trying to keep a cool head.

"I believe you merely need a drop of blood from the person to locate them. But as Cora was planning on using her own blood to locate her daughter, I assume the same would work for the Dark One," Killian answered with a confident smile. "I have been searching for this object for weeks, but it wasn't until today when I remembered where Cora had hidden it on-board."

"So, we go to Gold, get him to bleed all over the globe thing and it'll show us where his son is living?" Emma checked and when Killian nodded in confirmation she couldn't hold back the smile that flashed across her face. "This is our chance to win us a favour. We need to go and we need to go as soon as possible. We need to go before Regina realises what we're doing."

"How soon do you want to leave, love?" Killian asked her, completely in agreement that it was a good idea to go sooner rather than later.

"I suggest we call Gold and ask if he can pay us a visit; tell him we have news… there's no reason to wait if we have a plan. The sooner we break the curse, the better," Emma reasoned, already finding Gold's number to dial on her phone. "I'm not leaving my son with that woman for a moment longer than necessary."

* * *

Less than two hours later, Emma and Killian had a plan and were ready to go and catch a last-minute flight to New York.

God had been with them within the space of 20 minutes and with him came the answer to where his son was living. He had knowingly provided Killian with a passport without much of an explanation that looked legit, even to Emma's well trained eye and wished them good luck.

The only thing after that had been phoning Graham and telling him she'd be away for a few days. He assured her that he would manage just fine on his own, he had for 28 years before hiring her, it would be the dazzling company he'd be deprived of that would be the biggest travesty.

Henry had dropped by after school to talk to Killian as he had said he would and although he was disappointed his sailing adventure would have to wait a few days, he understood and was excited that they were that little bit closer to breaking the curse. He also seemed to have decided that he was going to address Emma as 'Mom' now as a permanent thing and it didn't escape the notice of everybody in the house.

"Were my ears deceiving me, love, or did your boy directly call you his Mother multiple times back there?" Killian asked, walking into Emma's room as she was adding the last few bits to her suitcase after Henry had left to go back home before Regina sent out a search party.

"Yeah, I think he did," she laughed quietly, still not sure how to process the sudden change in things. "It's crazy, it almost feels even more real now…you know?"

"I understand," he smiled at her, pressing an affectionate kiss on her forehead. "I'd best go pack up my effects before we leave for this new kingdom."

"He kept asking me about his Father earlier." She had blurted the words out before she had chance to process them and Killian had immediately taken her hand and pulled her down so she was sitting on the edge of the bed so he could kneel in-between her legs and look up at her.

"What did you tell him, darling?"

"The truth…and I want you to know too. It's important you know my past, I think..." she said with a sigh, feeling his hand grasp both of her comfortingly. Without a word, she let go of his hand with one of hers and reached for his hook as if it were a hand and briefly pulled a smile onto his concerned face.

"You can tell me anything, Emma. You know you can," he assured her encouragingly.

"Neal was my first love. He was a bit older than me, but I met him almost straight after I left the foster system and I fell for him hard and fast. I went to steal a car and found that he had been living inside it since he stole it from its original owner. We were like a double act, stealing food to stay alive and sleeping in the car, but it didn't matter because we were in love. He promised me we would leave all that life behind and move to Tallahassee; start a real life together with a house and real jobs…but he screwed me over. He set me up to take the fall for him for stealing thousands of dollars' worth of watches. I went to jail. He got away with the watches."

Killian sat and listened to her tale quietly, patiently taking it all in, the look on his face, however, told Emma he already knew where this was all going and he was trying very hard to suppress a thunderous facial expression.

"I was only in jail for a few weeks before I found out that I was pregnant with Henry…I gave birth to him all alone and in handcuffs so I couldn't escape. Neal doesn't even know Henry exists and I intend on keeping it that way."

After she had finished talking, the room fell into silence that seemed almost deafening. Emma was desperate for Killian to say something—anything—but he was very quiet and still and for once completely impossible to read.

"Please say something…"

"Give me a minute, Swan," he replied in a voice that was cold and bare of any emotion, standing up and walking over to the window to look outside over the sea.

Emma watched him silently, feeling about half an inch tall, panic starting to rise in her chest at the thought of more rejection. She had let him in and at that moment she regretted saying every word of it. She desperately fought back tears as well as the fright and flight complex she'd developed after years' worth of trying to protect herself, and desperately clung to the hope that Killian wouldn't be the same as every other man in her life; ready to leave at the first sight of her awful past.

Almost as if Killian could suddenly sense her desperate urge to throw her walls back up, he turned back to her and in one swift motion he had her up on her feet and in his arms, holding her to him tightly as if he was frantically trying to stop her running away.

"It sounds to me I have been seeking revenge on the wrong man…this 'Neal' needs to be punished for the atrocities he committed. He is a man without honour. A disgrace."

"You and your honour," she sniffed in reply, trying for a laugh, but it sounded pitiful, even to her own ears.

"I'm serious, Emma. His behaviour…what he did to you…it makes my stomach turn and my hook itch… if I was the man I was still a few months ago, I wouldn't have hesitated to gut him like a fish, should I ever come across the man," he said through gritted teeth and for the first time, Emma realised he was shaking.

"And now?" she asked quietly, not missing the confession that he was a changed man since he'd met her.

"Now…I would still like very much to maim and injure him…but I would not endanger his life. He is still Henry's biological father after all…and I do not believe Henry would appreciate me poking holes into him."

"You two are getting on really well," Enna commented, grateful he'd managed to find her a brief escape from that particular topic. "He already thinks the world of you."

"And I, him," he confessed with a small smile, clearly trying to get his temper under control. "He's a great lad, smart beyond his years and with such a thirst for knowledge… he reminds me of another boy I met in Neverland many years ago now."

"Really? Who?" she asked curiously, moving to sit back down and pulling him down next to her.

"Baelfire," he confessed with a sigh. "He ran from his father and ended up almost straight on my ship. He wasn't with me long, but he possessed the same gifts your boy does and I opened my heart to him. But when he discovered I was the pirate who had supposedly stolen his mother away and murdered her, things went considerably downhill from there…as you can probably imagine."

"I'm so sorry, Killian. I had no idea you knew Baelfire from another land," Emma replied cautiously. "Is that why you accepted the deal to go and look for him so readily? You want to make amends?"

"Aye, love. Well, that and I was hoping that he might hear me out this time. Milah dreamed of the three of us building a family one day…she'd want me to try one more time with him—if we can find him anyway, that is," he finished with a forced chirpy smile. "You'd better get finished with your packing and I'll meet you downstairs."

"Okay," she replied, allowing him to stand up and head for the door, he was only half way there when she changed her mind. "Wait—"

"Yes, love?" he asked, turning back to face her and was immediately pulled into a kiss before he had chance to register that she was right behind him. He threaded his good hand into her hair and gently returned her kisses, feeling her melt against him as he physically felt all the tension dissolve out of both of their bodies.

"Thank you for listening," she murmured quietly after she pulled away to catch her breath.

"You don't need to thank me, darling. You know I'm here for you and I always will be," he assured her with one final short and sweet kiss. "Now get packing, Swan, we have a missing person to find and a curse to break."

* * *

With the car loaded up ready for David to drive them to the airport, Emma decided she wanted to grab a quick drink before they left but she was stopped in her tracks when entering the kitchen to find her Mother stood admiring he unicorn mobile that Gold had given her when they moved in. She had chosen to hang it by the window so that the sun would shine through it, and in that moment, it was reflecting the last light of the afternoon around the room.

"Hey…what are you up to?" Emma asked as she walked up to the window to stand next to Snow.

"This mobile hung above your crib," she answered brokenly, lifting out a hand to lightly spin one of the little blue unicorns. "Uh, it was _supposed_ to hang over your crib," she corrected after a second. Another reminder of the life they had all been deprived of.

"I like the unicorns," Emma found herself replying with a small smile, not sure what else she could have said to make the moment any less painful.

"Giving you up when the curse hit was the hardest thing I've ever had to do," Snow admitted, desperately trying to bridge the gap between herself and the daughter she never got chance to raise.

"I know," Emma assured her, yet again stuck for words that would truly convey how she felt.

"Every time I look at you, I wonder what would've happened if I hadn't had to."

"I do the same thing with Henry," she confessed, not realising until that moment how her own feelings were almost the same ones felt by her own Mother.

"You were doing your best," Snow tried to comfort her. "You were giving him—"

"His best chance," Emma finished for her, already knowing what she was about to say. "Yeah. But still…things would've been very different if I had kept him. We would've had a life together. A normal one. Back in Boston or someplace else. But I guess all that was just not meant to be."

Snow merely smiled sadly and nodded understandingly. "Fate can be a funny thing sometimes. But everything happens for a reason."

"I'm starting to see that, yeah," she laughed quietly, finally grabbing a glass of water and downing it in a few gulps. "Right. Well I'd better get going."

"Of course. Good luck. I know you'll find him," Snow encouraged, moving forwards to wrap her arms around her daughter giving her a fierce hug.

"Thanks Mary-Margaret," she smiled, almost awkwardly returning the hug before stepping out of it.

"You know, Mary-Margaret is a bit formal. You could call me 'Mom', if you wanted," she fumbled, looking at Emma hopefully.

"Oh, I…um, I'm not…I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Emma replied uncomfortably, not sure how to phrase her sentence in a way that made any real sense. "Can you just give me some time? It's all just a lot right now, you know?"

"You call your Father 'Dad'…" Snow said sadly, clearly trying not to push it, but it had obviously been something that had been grating on her for a while.

"Oh…I guess I do…" How on earth she'd not realised that yet, she had no idea, but it was the broken look on her Mother's face that swayed her. "Look, okay…I'll try? I guess if Henry can make the effort to call me 'Mom', I can do the same for you."

"I would really love that," she beamed in return and it almost looked like she was on the borderline of bursting into tears, so naturally Emma decided it was time to get out of there before things got even more awkward.

"Okay, so I'll call you guys when we're settled and stuff in the hotel?"

"That would be lovely and don't worry, we'll watch out for Henry whilst you're out of town," Snow assured her.

"Thanks…Mom."

It felt weird, but the smile that flooded Snow White's face made it almost seem worth it.

" _Are you ready, Swan? Your Father is getting rather verbally aggressive towards me and I need rescuing,"_ called Killian's voice from the front door and Emma merely sighed, smiled at her mother once more before grabbing her phone off the table and heading towards her pirate in distress.

It was a damn good job that she was not a traditional princess as her true love needed more of a knight in shining armour to protect him from her overprotective Father on occasion.

"Are you two going to fight the whole way to the airport?" she asked, rolling her eyes as she climbed into the passenger's side of the car, looking between David in the driver seat and Killian, who was spread leisurely across the length of the backseat. "Put your seatbelt on. Nothing will save that pretty face if you go flying through the front screen if we crash."

David sniggered at her words and turned the ignition of the car on as Killian almost pouted as he begrudgingly sat up and strapped himself in.

"I wish you'd be on my side for once, Emma," he grumbled, aggressively clicking the seatbelt together securely.

"I am on your side, you idiot. I just quite like having my boyfriend all in one piece and not in many scattered across the street. You're already missing a limb, please don't go endangering anymore," she replied, having to try really hard not to laugh at him and his sulky behaviour. "Um…do you want me to drive, Dad? You've not even left the drive yet and we do have a plane to catch."

"Yeah, Dave. Do you need a hand?" Killian retaliated smugly, his mood lifting significantly now that he wasn't the only one getting told off by the blonde spitfire.

"No, thank you…I've got it," David replied through clenched teeth, having to try very hard not to bite back at the pirate who was clearly doing everything in his power to press all the right buttons to annoy him. One thing was for sure, he'd enjoy the peace and quiet whilst he was spared of the enthralling company of the infuriating man who would almost definitely one day be marrying into his family. Thank god it was far too soon for any of that though. He wasn't sure his fragile heart could take it.

He remained in a delicate state right up until the point where he witnessed Emma trying to explain to Killian about what an aeroplane was as they climbed out of the car, the loud noise of one flying overhead nearly giving the hooked man a heart attack.

"You want me to get into one of those flying contraptions?!"

"You guys have fun! Call us when you're there safely! Goodbye!" David beamed enthusiastically, even giving them both a cheerful wave as he pulled out of the car park, leaving the pair of them squabbling outside the front entrance of the airport.

Even though they were clearly off to a rocky start, David had no doubt that they would return within the week with Baelfire in tow and therefore leverage on how to break the curse. But for now, he was simply going to enjoy having a quiet few days with his wife and maybe spend some time trying to convince his grandson that he would be a far superior fighting teacher than Captain Hook—who he was _sure_ was a cheater, ever since he'd lost to him in their duel for the comfiest armchair the week before…


	8. Chapter 8

It had been a _long_ journey.

Once Emma had managed to convince Killian to go through the scanners at check-in and then also board the plane, she had then had to contend with how panicked he'd got when the plane _actually_ took off.

It was a good job he'd been forced to pack his hook in their hold luggage or he would have shredded the armrest of his seat in panic as he hung on for dear life.

Eventually they had landed in New York and from then it had simply been getting in a cab over to their hotel, which – despite how late notice it had been to book – was thankfully pleasant enough for them to at least get a good night's sleep before the task they had waiting for them in the morning.

Briefly Emma noted just how much had changed since the last time she and Killian checked into a hotel together, thinking back to that first night in Storybrooke when they had shared a room at Granny's. Even though it was barely a few months ago, her life had completely and utterly transformed since then and she was incredibly grateful of that fact every day.

Once her head had hit the pillow on the bed, she had been out like a light, exhausted and ready for the whole mess of the curse to just be over already. She couldn't wait to be back in Storybrooke with her parents, her son and her pirate and she was adamant that nothing would get between her returning to town with Baelfire in tow, even if she had to drag him back to his father kicking and screaming.

"What's wrong? This the right place?" Emma asked Killian, noticing his facial expression as they both climbed out of the cab outside the apartment block that they had tracked Baelfire to.

"Yes, it is," he replied with a sigh, scratching his ear. "It just feels odd knowing he's never going to be expecting this…well, expecting me. We did not say farewell on good terms."

Emma didn't really know what to say to make him feel any better, so instead she reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze. "Well, who doesn't love a surprise?" she said with an encouraging smile, dragging him up to the front door of the apartment block and inside.

They came to a stop in front of a closed gate with buzzers on it for each individual flat. Next to each buzzer was a name for the occupant living there.

"No 'Baelfire'…" Killian observed, leaning down so he could read the tags.

"Yeah, that probably wouldn't fly as an alias. It's a shame the magic globe didn't give us an apartment number," Emma replied, feeling suddenly cheated by the globe thingy—stumped at what felt like the last hurdle. It had told them which country, which state, which city, which street and even which building Baelfire lived in; yet it couldn't manage an apartment number.

"It doesn't work that way," Killian grumbled, still staring at the board as if it would suddenly give them an answer.

Emma leant down next to him to have a look for herself and immediately found what she had been hoping to find; the tag next to apartment 407's buzzer was void of any name or comment. "Here's our boy."

"Or it could just be vacant," Killian reasoned, not wanting to get his hopes up over an empty dwelling.

"Look, I kind of traffic in finding people that don't wanna be found, and those sort of folks don't like to advertise their whereabouts," Emma explained confidently, not wasting anymore time before leaning forwards and pressing the buzzer firmly. "U.P.S. package for 407."

They were both merely rewarded by the sound of someone rejecting the call.

"Maybe you should have said FedEx," came the immediate reply from the centuries old Pirate Captain next to her.

Emma was about to question how on earth he knew about this worlds postal delivery services, when the sound of a window being thrown open and metal stairs being jumped on came from above them outside.

"He's running," they both said in unison, looking at each other in surprise before they simultaneously bolted from the lobby back out onto the street just in time to see a hooded figure jump down the last few flights of the fire exit and hit the pavement.

Without a word, both of them sprinted after the man, running madly across the road down back alleyways. The man crashed into a pedestrian, sending him flying into Killian, tripping him up, causing them both to fall over an abandoned trashcan and end up on the ground.

Emma, didn't stop to see if he was alright, knowing he would have been furious if they lost him due to something as stupid as this. She saw her window of opportunity and ceased it with both hands. The man turned left, so Emma ran around the corner, hoping to block him off before he ran past, and it worked.

She managed to grab hold of his jacket and bring both of them to the pavement, hard and with an almighty crash. Emma was more than relieved that the man didn't immediately jump to his feet again and run off because she was fairly certain she wouldn't have been able to follow him with her new concrete burns up her legs and hip that she was fairly certain were already bleeding. Clearly, though, she wasn't the only one to have injured herself in the fall, as the hooded guy groaned and grabbed for his ankle after evidently landing on it funny.

" _Swan_?!"

It was only after hearing Killian's voice travel down the alley from where they'd just come that caused Emma and the stranger to look up and suddenly make direct eye contact, looking each other in the face for the first time.

What Emma saw made her stomach drop so fast she was surprised she didn't throw up, she barely managed a small "no…" before Killian appeared in her peripheral vision, half way to helping her up before hearing the name that left her lips, addressing the man she'd been counting on to help break the curse.

"Neal?"

"What?!" had been Killan's immediately response, quickly helping Emma to her feet and then turning to stare at the other man in complete shock.

"Emma?!" was the similarly intelligent reply from the man still on the floor as he looked up at the blonde woman in a sort of dazed awe, it was clear he hadn't even seen Hook yet, he'd been so thrown. "I don't understand, what are you doing here?"

"What am _I_ doing here?" Emma spluttered, not even believing the gall of this man, watching as he clambered unsteadily to his feet. "I'm not answering anything until you tell me the truth," she demanded furiously, stepping towards him, leaving a still confused Killian a few steps behind her. "Are you Gold's son?"

"What are you talking about? Who's Gold?" Neal replied, his tone of voice raising in anger to almost try and match Emma's.

"You played me. You're from there. You played me. And he played me. You both played me. You and Gold!" she rambled almost hysterically, the reality of the situation only just starting to make sense in her head and if she wasn't careful she was on the verge of having a genuine panic attack in the middle of New York.

It was at this point that Killian seemed to recover from his own breakdown just so he could take a shaking Emma into his arms to try and calm her down.

"It's okay, love. You're fine. I'm here."

This was however around the time when Neal recognised the pirate from his childhood.

"Hook?! What the hell! Get the fuck off her!" he borderline roared, throwing his hood off his head and stepping closer in a threatening way as if his appearance alone would cause him to retreat.

"I'll do no such thing," Killian replied, clearly trying his very best to stay calm and not start yelling too.

"You have no right to dictate this situation!" Emma snapped furiously, getting a grip of herself, the shock starting to pass, removing herself from Killian's grip so she could punch Neal in the jaw if she needed to.

"Emma, do you even know who this guy is? What he's done?" he persisted, gesturing to Killian as if he was the most disgusting thing he had ever laid his eyes on.

"Lad, just calm—" Killian tried to diffuse the situation, but was immediately cut off.

"Don't speak to me like that you no good piece of shit! You're disgusting, you know that? Emma—" he began again, almost as if he was trying to talk to her as if she was a small child who did not understand anything, "—this guy is old enough to be your great, great grandfather—"

"That's so fucking hypocritical!" she retaliated, not actually sure why they were having this conversation. "If you're Gold's son from back when he was a normal man, that would make you almost as old as he is and that's—"

"Whoa, okay. Emma, slow down," Neal yelled over her, clearly not having put all the pieces together yet himself and then turned to ask: "What are you talking about? Who's Gold?"

"Your Father. Rumplestiltskin," she answered with a wince, somehow it still felt weird calling the members of Storybrooke by their real names, so she tried to avoid it when possible.

"He's here?" Neal asked suddenly, all the colour practically draining from his face in pure dread.

"No, but you are coming home with us to speak to him," Killian demanded, his face an impassive mask, gone was the man desperate to reconnect with the teenager he'd had on his ship that many century's ago.

Neal's eyes flickered between Emma and Hook in disbelief, getting more and more pained as he desperately searched their faces for an any sign that they were not telling the truth. "You came to fetch me for him?! Why would you do that?!" he bellowed, getting uncomfortably close to Emma again as he yelled in her face, causing her to instinctively step back so she almost stood on Killian's feet.

"Hey! I am the only one allowed to be angry here!" she screamed back, actually moving towards him to give him a shove backwards away from her, still desperate to get the answers she thoroughly deserved. "Did you know who I was, where I was from, the whole time? Was this just some sort of sick, twisted plan? Did—did you even care about me at all?"

It was almost as if Killian wasn't there at all, it was just Emma and Neal; the guy who had broken her heart, sent her to prison in his place, knocked her up and ran away before she even had change to tell him. She was shaking in anger, her hands balled into fists, having to try desperately hard not to punch the ever-living crap out of him.

"Emma, do not—" he started, but was immediately cut off as she continued to yell.

"I wanna know! I want the truth, all of it!"

"Fine!" he roared finally, throwing his arms up in defeat, anything to stop her yelling as it was drawing attention from people who were walking past. "We—we gotta get off the street. We can't do it here. We're out in the open. There's a bar down the street. We can talk there."

"I am not drinking with you! Whatever you're gonna tell me, tell me now."

"No, bar's better. Don't worry, you can…keep yelling at me when we get there."

"Now that you mention it, a drink does sound like a wonderful idea," Killian interjected, immediately pulling out his hip flask to take a generous swig and then following after Neal as he walked off, leaving Emma to tail after the pair of them completely and utterly frustrated.

One thing was for sure, it would be a fucking miracle if they didn't get thrown out of the bar.

* * *

Less than two minutes later, the three of them found themselves sat in the most awkward trio known to man, all with a pint of the cheapest beer the bar had on tap in their grasps. Killian had taken a hearty sip on receiving the glass, but had almost spat the whole thing back out again in outrage at the taste, immediately sliding it across the bar to his left where Emma was sat, already half way through her glass. Clearly, she did not mind the taste and was in more need for it than she initially let on.

They sat in a pained silence for several minutes, allowing Emma to finish her glass and move into Killian's rejected one—which she was sipping more slowly this time. Nobody knew what to say and the reality of the whole situation was beginning to truly settle in, and if she was honest, Emma was genuinely feeling rather nauseous at the whole logistic side of things.

She made a mental note to herself that when she was next alone with Killian that she desperately needed assurance that he'd never tied the knot with Milah. She didn't even know how she would approach Henry and tell him that the man he was now almost treating as his father was technically his step grand-father.

Emma also felt mildly disgusted with herself when the realisation hit that she had not only slept with Gold's Son, but also the man that his ex-wife had left him for… Jesus, the allegations would all be now that Gold would be next, and that was enough to make her viciously choke on her drink and for her eyes to start watering.

This pesky age thing that these people all had going on was beginning to cause her more trouble than it was worth. She was aware that she had always preferred an older man, but this was ridiculous.

Clearly the tension was all getting a bit much for Killian, who was somehow sat in-between Emma and Neal at the bar and he couldn't deal with all the uncomfortable pressure anymore.

"That man on the television, Jerry something-or-other, would have a field day if he got hold of our tale."

"Jerry Springer," Emma responded with a sigh, trying to keep her breathing under control. "I knew you'd been watching way too much daytime TV…"

"Normally I'm fairly appreciative of dramatics," he replied with a shrug, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "Not so much momentarily, though."

"Well, what do you want to know, Emma?" Neal asked determinedly all of a sudden, almost as if he was trying to ensure he had not been forgotten about. "You want the truth? Ask away."

Emma took a deep breath in and out again before turning to the other man and beginning her questioning. "Did you know who I was when we met?"

"If I had, I wouldn't have gone near you," Neal replied almost immediately without even needing to think about his response.

"Come on," she said almost disbelievingly, there was no way that that was going to be the answer that she took. She needed a heck of a lot more than that to make her understand everything.

"'Come on'? Come on, what? I was in hiding. I came here to get…away from all that crap," he insisted, remaining incredibly calm and collected, almost as if he had been preparing for this conversation ever since he had abandoned her nearly eleven years ago.

"So, if you didn't know, then you were just using me," Emma rationalised, starting to feel seventeen all over again. "You just needed someone to take the fall for all the watches that you stole."

"I wasn't using you," he replied and, despite her instincts telling her he was spouting bullshit, she somehow believed him, especially as he carried on speaking. "When we met, I didn't know. I found out."

Emma dared a glance at Killian, who was sat listening in on the conversation with extreme concentration. He looked back at her and even after that brief gaze, she felt calm enough to ask: "How?"

Neal barely paused between her reply and his explanation, clearly, he was as desperate to explain everything to her as she had been to receive her answers. "When I went to sell the watches, I ran into a friend of yours—August."

"Who?" she asked in confusion. There was no way she'd have forgotten someone with a name like that, but it didn't ring any bells for her.

"Pinocchio?" he tried, looking at her face in confusion as she clearly had no idea who he was talking about. "A leather-wearing guy with a motorbike?"

"That could be any one of many of the guys I have met in the past," she replied, rolling her eyes at his vague description.

"Have a thing for leather, do you, eh, Swan?" Killian suddenly teased, clearly not able to hold it in. He had already been silent for much longer than Emma anticipated him managing, so she wasn't even surprised by his outburst. Nevertheless, she shot him a look that clearly said, 'please don't do this now'.

"Well I don't know how many leather-wearing men you know that carry around an old-fashioned type writer with them in a big wooden box," Neal quickly interjected, not wanting to hear the pirate make flirtatious remarks with him sat next to him at the bar.

"Hang on…a typewriter?" Emma repeated, eyes widening in realisation. She'd still not managed to find out any more about the town's newest resident, but clearly he'd been poking around in her life way before she even knew about Storybrooke and the curse.

"Not that smug bastard who talks in riddles?" Killian groaned, also catching on to what Neal was suggesting. "What does he have to do with anything?"

"He told me I had to leave you so you could achieve your destiny, Emma, alright... He told me about the curse—"

"Hold up," she interrupted, feeling her patience and her cool staring to slip. "You left me…and let me go to prison because _Pinocchio_ told you to?!"

"Emma—"

"I loved you," she growled at him furiously, knowing for sure that there was no way he understood the damage he had done. Maybe if things had been different she'd have cried and felt sorry for herself all over again. Grieve the life that he had promised her that they'd never had. But she had her family now and she had Killian…she didn't feel like she was particularly missing out not having him in her life anymore and instead of being upset, she was more fucked off than she could convey legally in a public place.

"I—I was, um, I was tr—I was trying to help you," Neal murmured quietly, clearly unsure of himself as he fell under pray of Emma's murderous glance.

"By letting me go to jail?" she spat back.

"By getting you home," he insisted, trying to lean around Hook to get a bit closer to her, almost as if he believed that would calm her down.

Emma took another deep breath, completely in disbelief at how much Neal seemed to believe his own bullshit. It was like telling himself this on a regular basis had been the way that he had been able to justify his decisions so he could get to sleep at night. "Are you telling me that us meeting was a coincidence? Because how the hell did that happen if it wasn't in your plan or your father's?"

"Think about it. He wanted you to break the curse. Us meeting—that could have stopped it."

"Well, it still might," Killian growled, the reality of how serious this was in the long haul finally becoming apparent. "What if the curse is unable to be broken now all because of what's conspired between the two of you?"

"Wait, what? The curse still hasn't been broken?!" Neal gaped open mouthed at the pair of them. "But August left for Storybrooke months ago to help you break it!"

"Nice to hear that you two stayed in touch after playing god with my life," Emma said sarcastically, shooting him a really dirty look. "As for the curse… it's a work in progress."

"Emma, you should be back in Storybrooke, not here in New York…you need to break the curse!" Neal pressed worriedly.

"I don't need you telling me what to do, Neal," she replied, finishing off her beer.

"Look, I know you're pissed at me, Emma, but what choice did I have? Who am I to mess with fate?"

"Fate?" she scoffed, hating that work even more every time it was verbalised out loud or used as an explanation for something.

"You know, there's not a ton about my father that I remember that doesn't suck," he began explaining, nursing his drink like it was a lifeline, "But, he used to tell me that there are no coincidences. Everything that happens, happens by design, and there's nothing we can do about it. Forces greater than us conspire to make it happen. Fate, destiny, whatever you wanna call it. The point is…maybe we met for a reason. Maybe something good came from us being together?"

It was as if her heart had stopped in her chest and she had to remind herself to breathe. It would be so easy just to say yes and tell him about the extraordinary kid their messed-up romance had somehow created. But she simply couldn't find it in her to tell him.

"No. Not that I can think of. I just went to jail. That's it," she found herself saying. Miraculously, Killian didn't respond in any way that would give Neal cause to not trust her. "Anyway, it doesn't matter now. I'm over it. And you."

Emma smoothly rose to her feet and started to get herself ready to go back outside into the cold, fully prepared for that to be the end of the conversation. She was just repositioning her scarf when Neal spoke again in an almost smug voice after seeing her swan charm dangling down around her neck on a chain, looking as new as it was the day he had stolen it for her in the convenience store they had robbed together.

"Why do you wear the, uh, key chain I got you?"

She looked directly at him, making proper eye contact for the first time since they'd crashed into each other on the street. As he watched her, she reached for the charm and snapped the chain, removing it from her neck before reaching around Killian and dropping it on the bar in front of Neal.

"I've worn it for the last eleven years to remind myself never to trust someone again. But I think it's time for it to come off," she replied, her eyes not leaving Killian's for a second as she straightened up, her heart warming at the smile he flashed back her way at her words.

"Well it's about bloody time, love," he grinned. "Now if only I could remove the one that prevents your father from trusting me too, that would be marvellous."

She simply rolled her eyes good-naturedly before turning back to Neal to find him watching their interaction with a weird expression on his face. "Come on. We made a deal with your father we'd bring you to him."

"You made a deal with him?" he asked disbelievingly after taking a second to process what she'd said, clearly not expecting the conversation to head in this direction so soon.

"I'm afraid so, Baelfire," Hook responded, also rising to his feet, fully prepared to drag him out of the bar kicking and screaming if needs must.

"And we _will_ be upholding our end, whether you come willingly or not," Emma warned, shooting him a look that suggested that he really shouldn't put up a fight.

"No, Emma, you don't have to. You know that," he said, borderline panic-stricken at the thought of facing his father again after spending so long trying to hide from him.

"Actually, we do," she replied with a sigh. "You want me to break the curse and fulfil my destiny? Well right now, the best way to do that is by bringing you to your father so he will in turn, help us."

"What makes you think he'll help you? He's never been the most generous man ever since he became the Dark One," Neal pointed out quickly, hoping he could convince the pair of them to just drop it and go home empty handed, leaving him here where he was safe.

"Like I said; we made a deal. He's not known for breaking those, is he?" she shot back. "Look, he can't leave Storybrooke until after the curse is broken, so how about this…you come back with us, speak to your father, make sure he's shared any vital information with us that we need and then I'll give you enough time to make a clean get away before I break the curse. That should give you a good enough head start."

Neal seemed to think this over very thoroughly before downing the rest of his drink and standing up. "I'm going to regret this, but fine. Let's get this over and done with."

* * *

"Love, please can we talk about all that's happened today?"

Emma looked up at Killian with a tired sigh from her place on the bed, already wishing the day was over and she could just sleep away the rest of the daylight and try everything again tomorrow.

They had decided to waste no more time than was necessary, so had told Neal to pack a bag and meet them at JFK airport within two hours. This, however had left Emma and Killian alone to really stew over what had just transpired.

Emma had immediately launched herself on the bed with a grumble when they had arrived back at the hotel and Killian had then taken to packing up their belongings, momentarily leaving her to her thoughts. But eventually the silence had gotten the best of him and he'd not been able to hold his thoughts in any longer.

"I don't really want to talk about anything right now," Emma replied finally, not moving from her place on the bed.

Killian sighed and ran his hand through his hair like he always did when he was stressed before gently climbing down on the bed next to Emma and pulling her lifeless form against his chest.

Emma mumbled appreciatively at the touch and snuggled closer to him, burying her face in his shirt. "You smell good."

Killian laughed quietly, brushing her hair back out of her face and pressing a soothing kiss on her head. "You're rather delectable yourself, love."

A calming silence filled the room for all of a few minutes before Emma spoke again.

"I can't believe that this has happened…"

"I didn't think you wanted to discuss it?" Killian replied, sitting up a bit so that he could look at her face as she spoke.

"I don't, but I guess we should probably have this conversation whilst we're alone," she rationalised, sitting up and looking back at Killian to see what expression he was wearing.

"I agree, Swan. There are a few things to straighten out before returning to Storybrooke," he nodded, sitting up straight against the headboard, almost as if he was bearing himself for the world. "First of all, I just wanted to say, Emma, that I'm so terribly sorry for everything."

"What on earth are you talking about? What do you have to be sorry for?" she asked in confusion as to where this topic was going. Her heart rate picking up in concern at the broken look on her pirates' face.

"Emma, if it wasn't for my stealing away his mother, Baelfire never would have become the way he is…he would never have hurt you as Neal, he never—"

"Stop it," Emma interrupted quickly, not giving him the chance to wallow in guilt any longer than absolutely necessary. "There is no way to say that if you hadn't been the one to catch Milah's eye, she wouldn't have still left, right?" she asked, waiting for Killian's reluctant nod of agreement before carrying on. "She wanted out, wanted away from her life. It just so happens she met you and you gave her the final push she needed. You didn't force her to leave Baelfire, or Neal, or whatever…did you?"

"No, I suppose not," he admitted reluctantly. "Milah thirsted for adventure, she wanted to see the world. I loved her so much, Emma, but even I can admit she wasn't the best mother."

"Well, I don't think anyone could say I've done a great job at it either," she sighed. "I guess some people just aren't cut out to be parents."

"Don't you dare include yourself in that generalisation, love, you've been doing great with the boy. He thinks the world of you and has no ill feelings about your choice to put him up for adoption," Killian said in a tone that left no room for argument.

"I couldn't tell Neal about him…" she said suddenly, a heavy sigh leaving her lips and a fierce expression appearing on her face, clearly this had been eating away at her ever since the conversation in the bar. "I'll tell Henry everything when we get back to Storybrooke because I won't lie to my kid…but Neal…he has no right to know about Henry after the way he fucked me over. I can't risk that he'll hurt him like he hurt me."

"Don't you think he'll work it out though?" Killian asked gently. "It's not hard to put all the pieces of the puzzle together."

"With any luck, he'll be in and out of town so fast he won't have time to figure it out," she insisted, hoping that if she believed her own words enough they would be true.

"I'm not saying tell him now, Swan," Killian started cautiously, taking her hand, "but do you not think it's cruel to keep a man from his child? It's not like he knowingly abandoned Henry before. He had no idea he existed."

"What are you saying? That I should give him a chance?" she challenged, taking her hand out of his borderline aggressively and standing from the bed to gain herself some distance. "You're meant to be on my side."

"I am on your side, love," he assured her, following her to his feet so he could wrap his arms around her. "I just think Henry deserves to know his birth father. Let Henry make his own mind up on whether he wants the man in his life any more than that."

"I think he sees you as his cool step-dad, you know," Emma replied after a few moments silence, just allowing Killian to hold her in his arms. "But it's all gone a bit weird because you're that, but also kind of his step-grandad."

"Well, curses and Neverland may have given me experience, but as you can see, I've retained my youthful glow. I'm far too dashing to be a grandfather," he replied with a flirtatious smirk.

"Oh wow, I cannot wait to tell David you said that," she laughed, pulling back to look at him and then not able to control herself or stop at the quickly panicked look that stretched across his face. "My father isn't even a fraction of how old you are and he's happy enough being a grandpa!"

"I really don't wish to be put into the same category as your father though, love," he quickly responded, flinching at the implication.

"It's a damned relief that you never married Milah and I never married Neal, otherwise that would make you my step-father-in-law and no matter what true love has to say about it, I don't think I'd have been able to see past that," she cringed, mentally trying to put together her family tree in her head and immediately getting confused and lost.

"We'd have made it work," Killian replied with a shrug, clearly not doubting the power of true love. "Regardless to previous relationships and ties, we'd have still been perfect for each other. Obviously, there must have been a reason related to fate that has allowed me to stay alive this long so I can share my life with you."

"You know, a couple months ago, I was an orphan with no family…now I'm a _goddamn_ Princess who is somehow related to most of the _goddam_ Enchanted Forrest," Emma moaned, allowing her head to flop down onto Killian's shoulder where she could feel his laughter though his jacket.

"I think it's your boy we have to feel sorry for if anything," he chuckled, "the poor lad has got so many relations, I don't know how he'll keep track."

"Let's just hope we don't ever attempt having a whole family dinner, that's sure to be a fucking catastrophe."

* * *

"Thanks for coming to get us, Dad. I know it's late." Emma gave David a quick hug as he took her bag off her and threw it in the trunk.

"No problem, honey. I'm just amazed you managed to find him so fast with New York being such a big city," he replied, also helping Killian load the other cases in the car, sparing a quick glance at the other man hovering a few meters away.

"I used to only get paid on delivery when I worked in bail-bonds. It doesn't make any sense dragging things out; we need the curse breaking as soon as possible," she said with a yawn, closing the trunk and wrapping her coat around her more tightly to try and stay warm.

David nodded in understanding at his daughters' words before walking over in a princely fashion to properly address the silent man who was clearly trying to do everything in his power not to stare at Emma. "I'm David, Emma's father."

Neal visibly blanched a little before recovering and taking the prince's hand to shake. "Baelfire, but I go by Neal now."

"Nice to meet you, Neal," David replied with a smile, not quite sure what to make of this man and what about him was setting his nerves on edge.

"It won't be so 'nice' when the truth about what he's done to you is revealed," Killian whispered to Emma as she walked past him.

She looked at her pirate boyfriend and sighed, he was over his momentary self-hatred spell and was now focusing on being thoroughly pissed off with Neal for his past behaviour. "Nothing is being revealed until the morning, we discussed this already."

"I know, Swan," he yawned, propping himself up against the side of the car to stay upright he was so tired. "I just hate knowing that we are reliant on him after what he's done."

"We aren't reliant on him, we're reliant on Gold," she corrected, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek to try and calm him.

"To be honest with you, darling, I'm not quite sure which is worse."

"You guys all look shattered, let's get you home," David ordered suddenly, briskly walking away from Neal and pacing up to the car, practically shoving Killian into his seat in the back before he fell over in exhaustion.

"Aw Dave, I didn't know you cared so much…" Killian replied wearily, his usual teasing having a lot less of an impact when was already half asleep.

"Neal, get in the car," Emma ordered, only just faring better than Killian was. "You are currently separating me from my bed."

He sighed loudly before moving to get in the back of the car next to Hook who was already snoring loudly with his head thrown back against the headrest. He had barely spoken a word to either of them since meeting them where instructed at the airport and had only given short answers when he had no choice but to answer. If Emma had to hazard a guess, she would have said he was literally shitting his pants at the thought of seeing his father again.

Yes, they may have been successful in finding Gold's son, but it was literally the middle of the night, so it made no sense to rush over to his house now without having at least a few hours' sleep to prepare for it.

After making sure Neal was bolted in his seat, Emma climbed in the front next to David, who had turned the heater up to try and keep them warm.

"Did you drug Hook on your way back?" David teased quietly so as not to wake him as they pulled out onto the main road. "I appreciate the silence from the back of the car, but it is a bit unnerving when you're used to his constant chirping."

"I knew he would grow on you eventually," Emma laughed, trying very hard to pretend that Neal wasn't there with them watching her intently. "We're both just running on not an awful lot of sleep since we left Storybrooke."

"Emma, I don't need to be hearing about your mini-break exploits with Captain Hook," David groaned almost as if in pain causing Emma to roll her eyes.

"Head out of the gutter please. I just meant we've been very busy trying to collect him and get back home," she explained, gesturing to Neal with a tilt of her head so she didn't actually have to look at him. "I didn't want to leave He—um, _him_ alone without me there to protect him from Regina." Emma cursed herself for her almost slip up, mentioning Henry directly would almost definitely give the game away, as it was, she had probably said too much.

"Who's 'him'?"

 _Shit_.

"None of your business," she snapped at Neal, causing David to raise his eyebrows at her in confusion, but mercifully he didn't say anything.

Her father cleared his throat awkwardly, but after a few minutes quietly murmured almost inaudibly so only she could hear: "He's been fine. He spent most of the afternoon and evening with me and your mother. We made cupcakes."

She sighed in relief before sending a small smile his way, a non-verbal way of saying thank you without giving Neal any more information. After the assurance that Henry was okay, she had no issues closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep, only waking up to the feel of her father lifting her out of the car and carrying her up to bed.

She was absolutely dead on her feet and could barely stand upright, so David helped her out of her coat, scarf and boots, pressed a kiss on her forehead and tucked her in.

"Thanks Dad," she managed to murmur snuggling deeper into her duvet.

"No problem, sweetheart. Get some rest. We can talk about everything properly when you wake up," he smiled, brushing her hair out of her face tenderly.

"Mm'kay," she replied sleepily. "Love you."

"I love you too, Emma," he replied gruffly, not able to hide how emotional her saying those words for the first time had made him, and with one final kiss on the top of her head, he left the room quietly, leaving her to sleep.

Tomorrow was sure to be a big day and she'd need all the strength she could get.

* * *

It was midday by the time that everybody was awake and sat downstairs around the kitchen table. Emma had been the last one downstairs, by which point Killian had poured her a cup of coffee and David had whipped up a batch of his signature pancakes for everyone.

Emma found herself desperately wishing that Mary- Margaret didn't have to be at work, because the silence was almost unbearable and if anybody could fill an awkward silence with endless chatter, it was her mother.

Nobody really spoke until it was time for Neal to be reunited with Rumplestiltskin.

"Are you sure there isn't any other way you could get the information you need from my dad?" Neal asked, almost desperately, not making any move to climb out of the bug which was parked just outside Gold's pawnbrokers shop.

"Positive. Now let's go," Emma replied dryly, ready for him to be finished here and back in New York by the end of the day.

"Jeez, okay, fine," he complained, realising there was no way he was going to sway her, managing to climb out from the back of the small car, pausing to comment after he'd turned to shut the door behind him. "I can't believe you still have this thing."

"What do you mean?" David asked in confusion, looking between Emma, Hook and Neal trying to see who would give him an explanation.

"Can we not do this now," Emma snapped at Neal, before turning back to her Dad. "I'll tell you everything later, okay?"

David sighed, but didn't force it any farther, he knew Emma would only revert and shut herself down completely if pushed too hard.

"Come along then," Killian interrupted suddenly, making a few steps towards the shop door. "Let's get this over and done with, shall we? Ladies first…Dave?"

David glared at Hook as he held open the door for him and allowed him to walk into the pawnbrokers, followed by Emma, Neal and then Killian himself letting the door ding closed behind them all.

"Gold?" Emma called after glancing around the shop and being unable to see him out front.

"Back already, Miss Swan?" he replied, stepping out from the back room where his office was situated.

"You bet we're back," she replied with a blasé smile. "Consider our part of the deal fulfilled."

It was clear to almost everyone in the room that Neal did not want to be there and he was almost half way out the door when his father finally spotted him next to Killian.

"Bae? You came for me?" he almost whispered, overcome with emotion at finally being stood in the same room as his long-lost son who he'd been searching for for centuries.

"No. I came for her," he announced quickly, almost as if without any thought. "I've seen what you do to people who break deals."

David gave Neal another strange look, before he turned to Emma and saw the look on her face. That was all it took and he just _knew_ that something was going on here that was massive that he hadn't yet figured out.

"Please, Bae, just let me talk," Gold almost pleaded, taking a few apprehensive steps towards his son in the hope that he wouldn't back away.

"I have no interest in talking to you," he said uncaringly. "I only came so that they had kept their end of their bargain and you'd help them."

"I'm not doing anything for them until you talk to me properly!" he insisted, his face turning dangerous for a moment. "Why do you care about their intentions?"

"You made them a deal, you are not backing out of it! You already did that once to me and it ruined my fucking life!" Neal yelled at his father, taking a step towards him in what was probably supposed to be a threatening way. There were centuries of unresolved issues within their relationship and it was clear that salvaging anything now would take a lot of effort.

"I made a mistake and I'm…I'm sorry, son," Gold replied, trying to bring the aggressive tone down, but clearly Neal wasn't having it.

"You're sorry? So that makes it okay, then does it?"

"Please Bae, there is no greater pain than regret—"

"Try abandonment. I had to grow up alone! And so did _she_ because of all the shit you pulled to try and fix your mistakes!" he shouted, gesturing at Emma, so angry he didn't even process what he'd said.

"Neal—" Emma started, stepping towards him, trying to get him to calm down before he got Gold angry too. That was sure to be a messy fight.

"Emma, I got this," he replied instantly, not even looking at her, too busy glaring at his father.

The silence that overtook the room suddenly was enough to suggest that they had managed to keep everything on a low for all about a minute and Rumplestiltskin was not a stupid man. Their over-familiarisation with each other was enough to give the game away almost instantaneously.

"You two know each other…" Gold murmured after a moment, watching them calculatedly as they made eye contact, secretly sending each other pleads not to give them away. Nothing good could come from Rumplestiltskin finding out about their history. "You two know each other! How?!" he snapped in confusion, clearly it wasn't very often that people knew more than he did in a situation like this.

"You sent us to New York to find him!" Emma retorted suddenly, turning to face Gold head on, desperately trying to get them out of the mess they'd created.

"No, no, no, stop it! You're lying!" he growled, stepping closer to them both and causing Emma to almost stand on Neal's toes she was that close to him. "How do you two know each other?!"

"Mom!" shouted an excited voice from the front door, which was thrown open in excitement as Henry came running over to her and threw his arms around her in a tight hug. "You're back!"

Emma stilled in fear of what was almost definitely going to transpire if she didn't find a way to diffuse the situation and get Henry out of there. She shot Killian a quick look that screamed 'help' and found him looking equally as worried as she was.

"Yeah, kid. We're back," she replied unsteadily, returning the hug before quickly pulling back to look at him properly, resting both hands on his shoulders to stop them shaking by her sides.

"What's going on?" he asked, ever observant as usual, picking up on the tension in the room almost straight away.

"Who's this?" Neal asked from behind her, his voice quiet all of a sudden, as if things were beginning to take shape in his head.

"My son," Emma replied in the same voice, moving to kneel in front of Henry on the floor so she could make direct eye contact with him.

"What?" Neal replied in a voice that was almost half a gasp. One look at his father would have told him all he needed to know, as it was obvious that Gold had worked out the whole situation as soon as Henry entered the shop moments before.

"Is that Baelfire?" Henry asked Emma in his typical inquisitive way, but instead of directly answering him, she looked at him with big eyes, giving his shoulders an extra squeeze, desperately pleading him to do as she asked, hoping that he would go along with her plan without too many questions

"Henry, I need you to go to Granny's and wait for me there, okay? There's just some stuff that we need to get straightened up in here."

"I quite fancy a hot beverage myself, if you wouldn't mind me accompanying you, lad?" Killian interjected, much to Emma's relief and Henry smiled, bounding up to the pirate. Killian barely gave him a chance to say hello, before he was quickly scooped up into a fireman's life, causing the Henry to laugh.

"Can we get hot cocoa?"

"Whatever your heart's desire, my boy."

"Wait! How…how old are you, kid?" Neal called after them, realising that if they left they wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.

"I take it I'm not supposed to answer," Henry whispered in Killian's ear just so he could hear, after he stiffened up at Neal's question.

"How old are you kid?!"

"Stop yelling at my son!"

"What on earth is going on?"

"Baelfire, please…"

"Emma, how old is he?!"

"It's none of your damn business!"

"I'm ten!" Henry finally yelled back so loud it made Killian's ears ring, getting everybody to be quiet. "Now, why is everybody yelling?"

Killian lowered Henry to his feet again now that the game had been given away and sighed, running his hand through his hair in worry as he watched the boy walk over to stand by his mother again.

"He's ten?" Neal asked Emma, his face going sheet white, the room suddenly deadly silent other than the several clocks in the shop ticking.

Emma and Neal stared at each other in silent understanding and although she had come to terms with everything before, this made it all more real and she had to really fight to stop tears from falling. Neal, however, was not faring so great and she saw him blinking away a few tears that he couldn't seem to hold back.

"Mom?" Henry asked quietly, taking one of her shaking hands in his and squeezing, not yet understanding what was going on, but knowing that she needed comforting.

"Is this my son?"

Emma's control slipped and she felt a wetness on her cheeks and in half a second Killian was by her side, taking her free hand in his.

"Rumplestiltskin, what have you done?!" David demanded, feeling heartbroken at the sight of his family upset.

"I had nothing to do with this..." Gold replied quietly, clearly just as upset as everybody else in the room was at what was being revealed.

"Mom, do you want me to go to Granny's?" Henry asked, clearly trying to be strong for her and help the situation the best he could.

"Emma," Neal said brokenly, the tears falling freely now as he asked the question again that he already had the answer to: "Is this…my son?"

"Yes," she whispered, kneeling and cradling Henry's face with both of her hands, scared that he would pull away from her. Henry lunged forwards suddenly, catching Emma completely off guard, wrapping his arms tight around her neck in a hug so forceful it was almost strangling her, but she didn't care. Behind them, she could hear Neal openly sobbing and she felt Killian sit next to her and wrap both her and Henry in his embrace.

"Don't worry, Mom. I'm here," Henry said quietly, clinging onto her even tighter.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, pal!" David glared at the broken man who was pacing around his father's shop as if he was hoping that the floor would just swallow him whole.

"You weren't going to tell me about him!" Neal suddenly shouted at Emma as she slowly got to her feet and tried to stop her crying.

"No. I wasn't," she replied as calmly as she possibly could in the circumstances.

"Yeah, well he's my kid too, so you don't get to make that decision by yourself," he said angrily, trying to step closer to Henry, but he surprised all of them and grabbed Killian by the hook as if it were a normal hand and started leading him out the shop, completely ignoring the man who he knew to be his father. This was his way of saying he'd already made his choice as to who he was considering to be his family.

"I'll see you at home, Mom. Shall we get you some onion rings from Grannys?"

"That would be great, kid," she smiled, her heart aching at how proud she was of him for being so mature, considering he was still only ten.

"Please look after her," Killian muttered to David as he went past, only satisfied when the prince replied in the form of a quick nod, not wanting to take his eyes off the man who had hurt his little girl in some way. He didn't know the full story yet, and that was probably a good thing otherwise things would be a about to get a whole lot messier.

The bell dinged behind Henry and Killian as they left the shop, leaving Emma, David, Neal and Rumplestiltskin all stood in silence.

"Gold, we had a deal," Emma reminded him, getting a grip on her emotions and focusing back on the task at hand. "Tell me what you know on how to break the curse."

"That was not quite our deal though, was it, Miss Swan?" Gold replied in a harsh tone. "You find Baelfire, get him to talk to me and I'd help you."

"Yes. I have done what you asked for, now return the favour," she demanded, just wanting to get out of the shop and not look back.

"I said I'd help you. I didn't say _when_ ," he answered, moving to change the 'open' sign on the door to read 'closed'. "Now if you don't mind, as you can now see, I am shut for the day."

"No, you have to help us now, Gold!" David persisted passionately, refusing to back down. "You owe us, you owe Emma!"

"I know, dearie," he said calmly, "and I will keep my end of the bargain, when it's the right time."

"I knew you wouldn't have changed one bit!" Neal spat before turning and almost running from the store. "Don't come after me, I need time to think."

"Please Bae…" Gold called after him, but it was too late and he'd gone.

"I am not the sort of person you screw over," Emma warned the Dark One threateningly, a hard glint in her eyes.

"Alas, I would say the same," he retorted. "Have a little faith, Miss Swan. I know what is coming and I also know that when the time comes, you will be incredibly grateful that I withheld my help until then. So, now, please get out of my shop."

* * *

"If I so much as catch a glance at Regina again before I've calmed down, I may just cut out the middle man and shoot her in the face," Emma growled angrily, launching her car keys across the kitchen and knocking a bottle of wine off the counter as she stormed into the room, after just getting back from dropping Henry off at the mayor's house before she came looking for him.

"It's a good job that wasn't my rum, Swan. It's the only thing keeping me from hunting down your ex-beau and gutting him like a fish," Killian replied from his seat at the table, glass of his favourite beverage in his hand. "Your onion rings are in the oven keeping warm, love."

"Thanks," Emma replied harshly, retrieving them and shoving a few straight into her mouth. Not even onion rings could improve her disposition though.

"What's got both of you in such a bad mood?" came Mary-Margaret's voice from behind them, clearly just arriving back home from work.

"Honestly, Snow, I need a drink before I can begin explaining today's events," David groaned tiredly from next to Hook, his head in his hands.

Emma grabbed two more glasses and leaned against the table and slid them over to the pirate. "Care to share, handsome?"

"You know I could never say no to you, darling," he replied with a wink, filling each glass with a generous amount of rum and distributing them. "There you go Dave, that'll put some hairs on your chest."

"I guess that explains a lot…" the prince muttered under his breath, sneaking a quick look at all the thick, dark chest hair Hook had on display, as usual. He then took his first sip of rum and nearly choked on it. "God, that's strong!"

Simultaneously, Emma and Killian lifted their glasses and downed them in one without so much as wincing as the liquid slid down their throats.

Wordlessly, Mary-Margaret grabbed a glass of her own and gestured for Killian to fill it, also taking a seat. "Seeing as I won't be having any wine this evening, I may as well join all of you. I'm guessing I'll need alcohol to get through your tale."

"Right you are, milady," Killian smiled with a mock bow, doing as she asked. "I'm not entirely sure this is a story you're going to stomach though, with or without rum."

"Do you want the long version or the short version?" Emma asked with a straight face, clearly just wanting to get it out and the open and be done with it.

"Um…maybe for now, the short version?" her mother replied, taking a quick look at each of them and realising that a long-winded tale probably wouldn't lift their spirits in any way.

"Well, we found Baelfire, returned him to his dad, but Gold is now saying he won't help us until it's 'the right time'."

"He said what?!" Killian yelled suddenly, having not heard that part of the conversation beforehand.

"Yeah, some cock-and-bull story of how we'll be grateful when the time comes," David grumbled, taking an onion ring out of the brown bag and munching angrily.

"I somehow knew we couldn't trust that man…" Snow sighed sadly, her shoulders sagging. "And now we're no closer to figuring out how to break the curse."

"That's not all though, is it, Emma?" David pressed, noticing that she had conveniently left out a significant part of the story.

"What else could there be?" Snow asked worriedly, looking at Emma in concern.

"Baelfire – or Neal, as I knew him – is Henry's biological father," she replied with a small smile, clearly trying to come across as calm and in control.

"Wait…Gold's son is Henry's father?" she gasped, looking around hoping someone would start laughing and announce it was all part of some elaborate joke. But that didn't happen.

"Crazy small universe, isn't it?" Hook said darkly, picking up the whole bottle of rum and taking a swig straight from it.

"Hang on…So that means that Rumplestiltskin is Henry's grandfather?" David asked suddenly, as if the thought had only just occurred to him. "But _I'm_ his grandfather!"

"You can have more than one," Snow replied meekly, patting her husband on the shoulder to comfort him.

"So, his step-grandmother, is Regina? The Evil Queen," he said slowly, scratching his head confusedly. Clearly the family tree situation was starting to hit home a little more than it had done previously.

"Actually, step-great-grandmother…and she's also his adoptive mother," Snow worked out, somehow seeming to remain calm, regardless of the huge bombshell they'd just had dropped on them.

"It's a good thing we don't have thanksgiving in our land, cause that dinner would suck," David pointed out with a groan, head in hands at the thought of the size of table required to seat everyone at and also the extra guards that would be needed around to stop a full-blown war starting over something as ridiculous as passing the salt.

"Or…maybe this will mellow everyone out?" Snow said with an optimistic smile.

"I highly doubt that," Emma replied with a fake laugh, "I'm not about to invite Neal around for dinner anytime soon."

"Why though?" Snow inquired, not noticing the warning signs that she was pushing her daughter too far. "He's Henry's father, Emma! Doesn't that mean something?"

"What do you want me to say, Mary-Margaret? That now I am reunited with him we're going to skip off into the sunset together with Henry?" Emma snapped, moving to stand behind Killian's chair, almost as if being near him would calm her.

"I just mean it'd be nice for Henry to have both of his birth parents around, that's all," the other woman sighed, clearly trying to ooze calm, but failing as Emma felt her blood boil.

"Not everybody ends up finding their true love first time round," she snapped, feeling Killian subtly lean back in his chair so she was touching him slightly. "My life was no fairy-tale."

"But this man is Henry's _father,_ surely that counts for something?"

"Aye, lass, it would do, if the man hadn't been every part the coward his father is, and abandoned her in the brig to take fall for a crime he committed when she was with child," Killian finally interrupted, causing David and Snow to gape at both he and Emma in shock.

Emma awkwardly looked between her parents, very much aware that they didn't know very much about her past up until a second ago when they'd retrieved a sentence that practically revealed the darkest part of it. She expected shouting, targeted at her for being so stupid and reckless – that's what parents were for, right? – but much to her shock that was the furthest thing that happened.

There was complete silence in the room, only interrupted when Mary-Margaret moved to stand facing out the window and all anybody could hear were her quiet sobs.

Suddenly David rose to his feet and stormed into the living room, coming back a few seconds later with a fucking _sword_ clasped in his hand, a steely look on his face. "I'll be back later."

"You're not going anywhere," Emma snapped, moving to snatch the sword from him. "Where the hell did you even get this from?!"

"Emma, I cannot let this stand!" David replied in a voice the closest thing she'd ever experienced to him shouting that had been directed at her. "I may not have been around to protect you then when you needed me before, but I sure as hell am now."

It was only the devastated look on his face that stopped her from yelling back at him, clearly the knowledge of the things that she had been going through alone whilst she was growing up causing him such pain that it made him look like he could break into tears any moment.

"Dad, I'm an adult now, I can fight my own battles," she said tiredly, placing the sword on the kitchen table and moving to hug him, feeling his hand cradle the back of her head to hold her closer.

"I know you can, but that doesn't mean you have to," he replied gruffly. "You're always going to be my little girl."

"I'm sure there's an explanation for his actions," Snow said quietly, clearly so desperate to believe the best in everybody.

"So he says, but frankly I don't give a damn," Emma shot back, moving to look at her mother. "I will not prevent Henry from knowing his father, but personally, I don't want anything to do with him."

"But—"

"Mary-Margaret, I already have my true love, okay? He is right there in front of you, so please stop pushing me to get back with my asshole ex who sent me to prison where I gave birth to my son with my ankle cuffed to the bed."

You could have cut the tension in the room with a knife.

"I'm going to go and get some air."

Emma took Killian's bottle of rum out of his hand and marched out of the house without looking back, the harsh sound of the front door slamming shut behind her making everybody flinch.


End file.
